


Twirling Around Danger

by jongkey_krisho



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Gangs, Happy Ending, M/M, Mafias, Smut, Violence, nightclubs, some age gaps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2019-11-05 05:09:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17912582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jongkey_krisho/pseuds/jongkey_krisho
Summary: If you asked Yuta to describe Winwin, his response would have been this: quiet, hated attention, loved his two brothers more than anything in the world, reserved, gorgeous, hated exposing skin, a really nice stripper-Stripper?Working as a pole dancer from a very young age due to shitty family members getting him involved, Si Cheng has been trying his best to earn the money to pay off the debt and get the hell out of that place with his two younger brothers, Chen Le and Renjun. Things get complicated, though, when a certain gang starts getting involve in affairs with the club owner, thus leading gang-leader Yuta and employee Si Cheng to become closer. Yuta wants success and his members to be protected; Si Cheng wants his siblings out of this intoxicated world. Will they be able to accomplish their goals? And if so, at what cost?





	1. 10 PM, Sharp

Si Cheng still had five minutes before he was up on stage.

 

Huddles up with one of Ten’s blankets in his dressing room, he could only watch Ten put on some kohl eyeliner while staring at the mirror. Ten has always been good with makeup, knowing how to distinguish the different types of palettes and brushes, never messing up on his routines. Si Cheng has been in this business, unwillingly, for six year, and yet he still didn’t know the damn difference between highlight and blush. Or foundation. Or bronzer. Or concealer. Hell, why was there so many?

 

“Quick question,” Ten asked him, gaze not leaving the mirror as he did the eyeliner on the other side, eyes looking good as usual. “Are any of your brothers doing sports in school? I don’t miss high school, anyways, but I figured they should be involved in something.

 

Ah, his brothers. Practically one of the only types of conversations that Si Cheng enjoyed. Not that he dished out everything to strangers, though, he wasn’t going to aid some stalker get ahold of his siblings. Ten, however, has been his only friend these past six years, the other forced workers in this establishment a bit too judgmental for Si Cheng’s liking. Or jealous.

 

Si Cheng turned on his phone, a cheap, used Iphone 4 that he bought at the second-hand store a few years ago. The time displayed was 9:57, right over the smiling faces of a Si Cheng, holding onto Renjun and Chen Le as the three of them laughed their hearts out. He had three minutes to spare.

 

He unwrapped Ten’s blankets, shivering as the cold air from the room hit him. Their boss, Insung, had gotten mad at Ten last week, claiming he didn’t need the heat on if all he did was fuck clients. As a result, now the room was _freezing_ , and it didn’t help that Si Cheng had one of his tube tops and black miniskirts as usual.

 

Bending down to reach for his 3-inch stripper heels, Si Cheng put them on his soft feet, his small, painted toes gleaming as the peach nail polish was his by the light. “They haven’t told me of any clubs or activities, yet,” Si Cheng told Ten, “but I’m pretty sure Chen Le will finally get into the art club that he wanted. As for Renjun, he wants to do a sport, but he needs a physical, and doctor’s appointments are so expensive-“

 

Ten capped the remainder of his eyeliner and set it on the cramped vanity, fixing his hair before also stepping into his boots. “We need to persuade Insung for health insurance, hell, it’s a miracle I don’t have an STD or something.”

 

“Prostitutes getting treated well is not something that’s heard of.” Si Cheng got up from his seat and headed to the door, Ten right behind him. “As least you’re not a woman and have to worry about pregnancies or periods or something.”

 

“I mean, this is a gay bar, so,” Ten let out a fake laugh, not liking how their boss treated them like shit. “The least he could do is give me some of that cash. Free-willed prostitutes earn mad cash, I can finally buy one of those expensive Louis Vuitton bags that I’ve always had my eyes on.”

 

Si Cheng rolled his eyes, the two heading straight to the backstage. “Only you would like to own a lot of bags.”

 

“Pay is shit but I do like looking good,” Ten agreed. “And you only own, like three.”

 

“You know I don’t have a lot of money to throw around,” Si Cheng replied.

 

And it was true. As a 22-year-old taking care of a pair of a fifteen year old and sixteen year old, he had limited amount of money that he could spend on himself. After 4 years, he was finally able to purchase a car, but now gas money was an issue. Food and hygienic necessities were also costly, and since his siblings were in high school, they needed money for supplies and school trips too.

 

Oh, how Si Cheng wished they had their own apartment. Insung required them to live in his deluxe apartments that were above the night club, but that also meant taking a huge chuck of Si Cheng’s money for the supposed rent and bills. SI Cheng had pleaded with him multiple times to let them go live somewhere else so that he could pay back the debt faster, but all he usually got in reply was a slap to the face.

 

His ringed to signal that it was 10 PM, so Si Cheng stuffed it in one of his hidden pockets and went to the stage, already calculating how long till he was able to go home.

 

***

 

Insung was such a cheap bastard.

 

Jaehyun had come into Yuta’s office earlier, giving him the reports. Seeing the deposits that Insung had been giving them were pitiful over the months.

 

Yuta hastily threw the papers off his desk, not even bothering to look at Jaehyun. “We’ll talk to him tonight.”

 

All Jaehyun could do was nod to his boss. “I had Johnny look into his banks accounts. Fucker has the money, he just doesn’t want to hand it over.

 

Of course he didn’t want to hand it over. Insung has always been a money grabber, giving his employees shitty paychecks and paying back shitting amounts to Yuta. He really thought Yuta wouldn’t care that the dude wouldn’t give him back his money? Just because Yuta had millions to spend didn’t mean that he would give it out for free.

 

“Meet up with his second-in-command, and give him a good lesson in the meantime,” Yuta ordered Jaehyun. “No son of a bitch thinks that he can fuck with me.”

 

***

 

Thankfully, it became 1 AM, meaning that Si Cheng got his fifteen-minute break.

 

He accidentally made some harsh movements on the pole around an hour ago, hurting his wrist in the process. He tried to ignore the perverted men making grabby-motions to him, instead, only focusing on the pole and making his twirls.

 

Sitting on the worn-out stool backstage, Si Cheng rubbed circles onto his wrist, already thinking about the herbal remedy concoction that he was going to have to prepare when he arrived home. That meant three more hours before he could leave, and then that meant taking a shower and crawling under the covers with Chen Le and Renjun, making sure not to wake them up. Si Cheng didn’t like to ruin their sleep schedule.

 

He looked around for Ten, but the flamboyant male made no appearance, meaning he was probably still busy with one of the clients. Si Cheng hated being all alone, but it wasn’t like he could barge into one of Ten’s mid-fuck sessions and whisk him away.

 

Si Cheng didn’t really had anything to do, so he opened up the messenger app to look at the photos that Renjun sent him earlier. They had to send him photos every hour or so before their bedtime to prove to Si Cheng that they were doing okay, and they appeared so – Renjun sent a photo of Chen Le and him coloring, their pretty landscape pictures already having a place in the house in SI Cheng’s head, thinking where he would put them. Earlier, Renjun sent them a photo of their rice and fish dinner, Chen Le in the background doing a peace sign. He also sent a photo of their completed homework, and finally, the two of them in pajamas on the large bed, getting ready for a good night’s rest.

 

He made no hesitation to save the photos onto his phone in order to print out for free at the public library later that week. He had been wanting to make a photo album for the three of them, but he didn’t have the sufficient funds to spend it on the glossy pictures. Money was becoming _increasingly_ tight in their household.

 

The smile on his face made no movement of disappearing, that is until he saw the green little circle on Renjun’s profile, meaning he was still online.

 

Finger pressing on the call button, Si Cheng put the phone on his ear, not before checking the time first. He had four minutes to spare.

 

The call was picked up immediately. “Hello?”

 

“What did I say about staying up late?” Si Cheng said over the receiver. “You guys need your good night sleep.”

 

“But Si Cheng,” Renjun whispered over the phone. His voice was becoming shaking, not an attitude that he usually expressed. “We heard someone trying to open the door calling for you.”

 

“Again?” Si Cheng got off the stool, not paying any attention to a now-present Ten who came into view. “What did you guys do?”

 

“We were already in bed,” Renjun answered. Si Cheng heard Chen Le in the background, and he sounded like he was crying. “And we didn’t say anything. But ge, he kept saying Winwin over and over again…”

 

Renjun trailed off, and what he said surprised Si Cheng. He has known about some people trying to open their door lately, which is why he always reminded the two to keep the doors locked. However, they never called out for anyone’s name, only shouting open the door.

 

What was even more unusual was that they used Si Cheng’s stripper name, Winwin. That was the name that he used here at the club and what all the clients here knew him as. Only Ten and his boss knew about his legal name.

 

The fact that these people who trying to enter their place in the middle in the night instead of the usual afternoon bothered Si Cheng even more.

 

When he noticed that he had two minutes left, he calmed down an upset Chen Le on the phone and said good night to the two, reminding them to call him if anything else happened. He ended the call and put his phone away, and Ten finally asked him what was going on.

 

“Some people keep coming around to the apartment,” Si Cheng explained. “But now they did it in the night.”

 

Ten sighed. “I’m really tired of all these people who are in contact with us.”

 

“I just don’t know who would come to my house,” Si Cheng explained. “I don’t even talk to anyone here. What could they possibly want from me?”

 

Ten shrugged. “I don’t know, but you better tell Insung about, even though he either probably won’t do anything or is actually involved with it.”

 

“You don’t think he’s responsible, do you?” Si Cheng asked him. “I mean, these are his apartments.”

 

“I would talk to him if I were you, see what’s going on,” Ten advised him. “It’s not like you own anything valuable.”

 

At soon as Ten said _valuable_ , SI Cheng instantly made an effort to touch the gold chain on his next, the two characters 快乐 gleaming under the harsh lights.

 

This necklace, after his two brothers, would be the most valuable to him. The present that his mother gave to him when he turned thirteen, a few months before he turned fourteen and she died afterwards.

 

He hid it under his tube top again, the small characters raising the shirt up just a little, not like Si Cheng had anything to show in that region whatsoever.

 

Ten, of course, knew the story. Si Cheng’s brothers each also had a gift from their late mother, though they were too small to remember her. Chen Le and his picture, the one he always kept in a frame hidden underneath all their belongings whenever they went somewhere, Renjun with the HIT5 cd that his mother gave to him when he said he liked the song Running.

 

Forget about money and the things that they could buy with it. All Si Cheng needed was his brothers, the two of them by his side, and his mother, no matter where her afterlife was present.

 

They couldn’t stand there for long, though. Si Cheng had a dance that he had to present to horrible people, and Ten, sadly, did have fucks to give.


	2. A Normal Aspect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a LOT just happened in my life im so sorry but i can giveyou guys this chapter, ill update the other two stories either tommorow or later today ill expect later this week everhthing that has happened
> 
> *WARNING* reference of abuse

Thanks to Renjun, the two of them were going to arrive late to school again.

Si Cheng has been waiting for them at the foyer, shouting reminders to them that they had to leave now. However, Renjun had misplaced his backpack last night and obviously couldn’t go to school without it.

Chen Le was the one who found it at least, having caught sight of it behind the small sofa. Chen Le’s drawing kit’s lid was on top of the small bag, making it almost impossible to see it unless you looked at a certain angle.

School was the only other time that wasn’t spent with their elder brother. Si Cheng made sure to go everywhere with them, whether it’d be tagging with them to some school event or store to the park. They didn’t know much about Si Cheng’s world in the nights, but they knew that it involved a lot of bad people and that Si Cheng tried to protect them as much as he could.

For example, the knocking. The knockings were becoming frequent these days, and Chen Le was getting starting to get worried. The voices sounded off sometimes, meaning they were probably different people. And Chen Le didn’t know what they signified.

Chen Le tries to push off his worries as he and Renjun jump into Si Cheng’s beat-up car, strapping on their seatbelts while Si Cheng struggled to start the engine. After 3 failed attempts, he slammed his head on the steering wheel and let out a groan.

“Si Cheng, is everything okay?” Renjun asked him. He was also getting really worried towards their brother lately.

Si Cheng lifted his head up from the steering wheel and pushed back his hair, frantically nodding as he twisted the keys again to make a fourth attempt. “Don’t worry, Renjun, you guys aren’t missing school.”

He was around their age when he had to drop out from high school. Si Cheng, someone who placed a lot of value in education, who was always there to help them with their homework, to maintain perfect attendance in school, to create study guides for them, to inspire them to discover their interests. No matter how hard school became, from the work to the bullying, they never once complained about it, knowing that their brother would have done everything to continue his own education.

Chen Le would wonder sometimes why Si Cheng focused so much on it, but then realized that Si Cheng was never able to focus his attention to his studies. Even when their mother was still alive, Si Cheng would spend most of his time helping out at home, especially with their no-good stepfather.

Not that Si Cheng had much time to do anything, anyways. Almost all his waking time was at work. Having a night-time job wasn’t easy, and it was often that his manager would force him to do other stuff outside of work while threatening to cut his paycheck, like help carrying out shipments from stuff. Renjun would ponder and think it’s drugs, but Chen Le didn’t know. He was just glad that Si Cheng wasn’t forced to take them.

Si Cheng was forced for a lot of stuff. Oh, how Chen Le wished they could just run away to a better place, one where they could live in a big house and Chen Le and Renjun could finally go those end-of-the-year trips to another country and where they could eat cotton candy without worrying about the bank balance and where Si Cheng could have an office job that didn’t leave him with dark bags under his eyes or scratches or bruises over him. Renjun called him a dreamer, but Chen Le knew that Renjun had those same wishes.

Like today on their car ride. On the seventh attempt, the car finally roared to life, and despite running late, Si Cheng was careful not to go past the speed limit, not wanting his brothers to get carsick, or worse, in an accident. He played the static radio for the two younger ones to enjoy, while Si Cheng just focused on the road.

One of the songs had the usual Korean and English, but a line in the chorus had a phrase in a language the two of them couldn’t understand. The went with their usual tactic: ask Si Cheng, their smart brother knows everything.

Renjun was the brave one today. “Hey, ge, what does that mean?”

“What does what mean?” Si Cheng asked. The two had been whispering, so he didn’t hear their conversation.

“The song,” Chen Le explained. “It has a weird line.”

“Oh, that?” Si Cheng slowed down the car when the light turned red. “It’s Spanish.”

“Really?” The two of them inched forward in their seats, eager to hear what Si Cheng had to say. “What does it mean.”

“It just says ‘I Like You.’” Si Cheng explained. “They’re just saying I like you over and over.”

“That does make sense,” Renjun agreed. “How do you know?”

Si Cheng looked away. How was he going to explain to his little brothers that it was due to foreigners that come into the club here and there, shouting insults and comments here and there that eventually led him to figure out what they were saying? Si Cheng has always loved the idea of learning languages, even able to make small conversation in Thai thanks to the help of Ten. Hearing certain terms, though, was not something Winwin liked to hear on a daily basis.

Of course, Si Cheng doesn’t like to lie to them; what lie could he possibly muster up anyways? “I learn some phrases from the club,” he tried to explain. “And you know how much of Ten likes GFriend,” he quickly concluded. That wasn’t a lie, Ten was always freaking dancing to Fingertip, making the aegyo heart to Winwin. Ten was a total dumbass regarding Spanish, though, so Winwin had to teach him all Spanish phrases in music from Dear My Friend to Otra Vez.

At least he knew when to flip someone off whenever they say que lindos pechos to him.

The song finished and was soon followed by another, a series of Bling Blings blasting through the speaker. Si Cheng continued driving when the light turned green, eyes turning into panic mode when he glanced at the time on the radio. They had three minutes, but the school was still a good 5 minutes away without traffic.

Renjun wasn’t really concerned. This isn’t their first time being late, although it was a rare occurrence. SI Cheng was always so good at being so punctual. However, their first class was homeroom, and since Si Cheng was legally their guardian, he just had to sign the form on the front office. No big deal.

He looked out the window. They past a nearby alley where there were some hooded figures that were throwing some punches at some guy on the ground. They appeared to be middle-age, and no doubt were stronger than anyone in their car.

Renjun lowered himself down on his seat, ignoring Chen Le’s funny look. That could always be one of us, he said to himself, clutching his backpack closer to his chest. Any day now.

***

His husband slammed the door on his way out, not bothering to say any goodbyes to Taeyong as usual.

Taeyong let out a breath of relief, collapsing on the ground as he panted. He swiped his nose with his sleeve, not checking to see whether it was snot or blood. Just some type of fluid.

After laying on the ground for a couple of minutes, he looked up to see his daughter far away, peering from the hallway. She asked him in Japanese, “can I come out now?”

Taeyong pulled himself up from the ground, taking off his shirt as for not wanting her to see him with blood stains. “Yeah, he left, don’t worry, come here,” he gestured towards her, the other walking slowly to him as if his husband would pop out any second now and get her too.

He pulled her into a hug, playing with her hair as he whisper it’s okay into her ear. He knew she didn’t deserve to live in fear, and it was up to him to try to eliminate it as much as possible.

After a minute or so, he pulled Ayaka up and carried her back to her room, cradling her in his arms. His plans for tonight will have to wait.

He took her to the bathroom in her room, letting her brush her teeth while Taeyong cleaned himself up. She was quiet while Taeyong screamed while applying alcohol on his face, trying to disinfect the new scratches. He didn’t want any more scars.

He grabbed a spare shirt that he left in her bathroom for these occasions, the white t-shirt blending in with his pale skin. He filled the sink with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water, throwing in his old shirt to let it soak for the night. Slipping off his shoes, he turned off the lights before scooping up his five-year-old into his arms again, taking her out of the bathroom before placing her gently on her bed.

“You didn’t finish telling me what happened in school earlier,” he told as he brought the blankets closer to her, wrapping them around her as he made he laid down beside her. She continued while he scooted in next to her.

“We drew pictures in art class,” Ayaka continued. “We had to draw something about our family.”

“That’s nice,” Taeyong replied. “What did you draw?”

“Us two making pancakes.” She snuggled into her blankets more, turning to face her. “We get them back next week, eomma, I think it’s really pretty.”

Taeyong kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. “Not as pretty as you, mochi. Now, go to sleep, remember we have to wake up early tomorrow.”

Ayaka wrinkled her nose in disgust. Taeyong’s husband worked early tomorrow since he’s going on a flight to Malaysia, meaning Taeyong had to wake up in the morning as well if he only wanted a slap and not a beating. “Okay.”

She fell asleep first, Taeyong soon after.

***

“This place isn’t that bad,” Jaehyun replied, walking side by side with Yuta on a Monday morning into the club. Sure, it wasn’t a Friday night, but the place looked clean enough, and without all the crazy dance people, it was easier for them to be on high alert.

Yuta just shrugged, kicking over an empty bad that had obviously contained cocaine the night before. “I know the cops won’t like it.”

“Hey, we should, like, check it out Saturday or something,” Jaehyun suggest, already walking over to the bar to check out the beverages in display. “Look, they have that ancient liquor thing that you enjoy, the-“

“Is Insung even here?” Yuta asked him. “Where’s Lucas, why hasn’t he arrived yet?”

“Oh, well…” Jaehyun reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, eyes glazed on the screen. “He’s still with Jungwoo.”

“He’s needs to make a fucking move already if he doesn’t want the guy to be taken away,” Yuta said. “If I hear one more complain about him I’m going to kick his ass.”

“You’re funny,” Jaehyun said, still paying attention to his phone. “Oh, I got a message from Kun, saying Insung is out of town this week. He won’t come back until 3 days.”

Yuta nodded his head, already contemplating. He walked away from the bar as he said, “ I guess we’re coming Saturday.”

****

Chen Le was really proud to see a 91% on his art quiz. Maybe things weren’t going to be so bad.

He had been nervous about taking this class before since the idea of having a portfolio graded scared him. When he noticed how easy it was for him to create them, though, he had actually gotten more excited.

Chen Le was still staring at his paper when the teacher started talking again. “So I told you guys last week that you guys had an art project that I was going to assign today, but it’s a fun one so remember that.”

Some people started to groan, those same people who had complained about their quiz scores seconds earlier. Others, however, starting whispering each other ideas, obviously having heard from students of previous periods.

Chen Le leaned over to talk Jisung, the guy who sat on his left. “Do you remember anything about an art project? I don’t remember her saying anything about it, but I’ve been here all week or is it just me?”

Jisung put his quiz back in his folder, Chen Le catching a glimpse of the 89% on it as well. “She has said it a couple of times, maybe you were just talking.”

Chen Le frowned and leaned back to his seat. He never liked doing projects, even if it was a subject he was interested in. He always got the wrong idea about how it was supposed to be completed, or he would get stuck with an uncooperative partner, or the teacher just simply hated him or his idea.

The teacher continued talking. “This is a project between you and a partner, and it’s going to involve some photography, sketching and writing.” She walked around the class passing out stapled handouts. “This one is more creative than your last project, so you’ll have more ideas.”

As soon as she gave Chen Le a copy, he flipped it all the way to the back to see the rubrics and the points awarded. The point total almost made his eyes bulge out.

Basically, it was simple – each duo would get a topic, and they had to take nice photos of what that topic meant to them. They would do sketches of their own interpretation of the photos, and compile everything into a folder with a short essay explaining the concept. They would also have to present to the class.

Sure, it was a lot of stuff, but the idea was easy enough. Of course, he didn’t know what this had to do with what she was teaching, but he was used to her doing assignments like this.

She started calling out names and their topic while Chen Le continued doodling in his notebook. He had drew Si Cheng climbing a mountain and had now proceeded to draw Renjun next to him. He had been working on his brother’s hair when he heard his teacher say, “Jisung and Chen Le, persistence.”

Persistence? What type of topic was that?

He looked over to Jisung next to him, the other looking chill as usual. Chen Le knew it, he always had a reason to hate these projects!


	3. Calamity

“Are you sure you don’t want the seat?” Ten asked Si Cheng, the latter who was furiously typing away to Renjun. 

“You need to stop acting like this is my first time using high heels,” Si Cheng replied. “I’m not sixteen anymore.”

“Winwin, my ass hurt, I need to stand.”

Si Cheng didn’t bother to look up from the phone screen. “Then stand, god damn it. It’s not like someone has to be at the loveseat at all times.”

Ten pouted but got up from the loveseat, tossing his phone behind it. “Maybe I just want it to warm up from later, you don’t know my story.”

“Trust me Ten,” Si Cheng answered, sending a last text to Renjun (tell Chen Le that I will see his drawings when I go home, I have to go. Take care) . “I know enough.”

“I’m telling you, Winwin,” Ten said, already throwing his jacket on the sofa. “You don’t know even half of it.”

***

Yuta had to admit, they were in awe of the strip club’s dancers. 

They were so good looking, he had to admit. The dances would range from something you would see in a choreography video all the way to the popular pornhub. Not that Yuta was complaining, though, he was enjoying everything. 

They came in around 9:40, but considering how the night was pretty early, he knew that, like all good parties, it has yet to begin. Despite that, everything was already fantastic. 

Course, they didn’t even last five minutes when Johnny found a nice whore to go spent probably a good hour or two. Jaehyun and Kun were by his side, as usual, but Kun left them about 5 till 10, claiming that he was going to get drinks, leaving Jaehyun and Yuta alone for a good four minutes. 

“You know, if Insung doesn’t give us the money ever again, instead of burning this place down, let’s just take ownership,” Jaehyun stated, taking another sip from his soju. 

Yuta shrugged, trying to pour the few droplets of tequila onto his shot glass. “I guess. It’s not like we don’t own other clubs.”

Jaehyun reached into his pocket, trying to pull out his lighter only to pull out a Chips Ahoy cookie pack. “Why the fuck is this in my jeans?”

Yuta stifled a laugh. “Dumbass, I think you and Johnny took each other’s’ jeans again.”

“God damn it, he’s gonna have to keep those,” Jaehyun replied, angrily ripping open the pack of cookies. “He left jizz stains on my good ones last time.”

“Or maybe he just left them on his bed with his other clothes to wash but you just took it?” Yuta argued, leaning over to take one of the cookies, happily munching on it while watching the male dancer in front of him do some pretty suggestive moves on that lucky pole. 

The minutes passed and Yuta almost jumped out of his seat when he felt a cold glass bottle being pressed against the back of his head. “Here’s your stupid Tequila,” he heard Kun say, who then at Jaehyun said “and here is your stupid soju bottle.”

“Thanks Kun, I love you,” Jaehyun joked, taking the soju bottle from Kun’s hands. He ignored the glass that he had been drinking from earlier and drank the soju straight from the bottle that Kun had handed him. 

“I thought you loved those dancers up there,” Kun said, pointed at the pole dancers in front of them. It appeared that there had been a change of lineup, because although the dancers had been rotating from area to area, some started to leave and other new faces were entering. Again, Yuta wasn’t complaining at all, the more beautiful dancers, the better. 

There was one in particular that caught his eye, though, and he couldn’t help but whistle at said person when he went straight to their area. What surprised him, though, was that other people starting chanting the phrase Winwin towards the direction of the dancer. 

“Shit, who knew that guy was popular,” Kun said, already taking the seat between Yuta and Jaehyun to enjoy the show. “Guys, we got good spots, we’re so smart.”

“I know, right? I feel so appreciated,” Jaehyun said, slamming his half-empty soju bottle on the table. “I need to stay a bit sober for this part.”

“You take forever to get drunk,” Yuta commented, who also abandoned his shot glass to stare at the beauty in front of them. 

This Winwin was one hell of a dancer, he noticed. He was more on the choreography side of the dancing, but Yuta still had a big imagination. He defended himself with the fact that with the twirls the guy was doing, he was practically flying. The term angel seem more fitting for the Winwin guy. 

Ha. A stripper being called an angel, now THAT was humor right there. 

The three of them would whistle and cheer at Winwin, throwing a few comments here and there, mostly Jaehyun saying “Boy that’s hot!!” and Yuta saying “Damn!” but other than that. Poor Kun bringing drinks for them two, who were obviously having more fun. 

“Hey, you think Johnny is sleeping with one of these dancers? Damn, he’s so lucky,” Jaehyun said, already moving a bit too much for someone who was supposed to be sober. “Johnny is so smart, that’s why he majored in computer science, right, Yuta!?”

“Damn, Johnny is soooo lucky,” Yuta agreed. “Already going straight to bed, boy, he must be in it for a surprise, he doesn’t know how good these guys are!” The club started becoming more talkative, plus the fact that Yuta was a bit tipsy only made him speak at louder voices. “You think this Winwin guy is good in bed?! With those thighs and ass, he should be!!!”

Winwin appeared to not like that comment, sober Kun noticed, because soon enough he got down from the pole and started to walk away to a different area. However, he saw that other dancers were going to different spots, so the time must have passed for the dancers to rotate again. Tipsy Yuta, however, did not appear to get that part of the memo.

“Hey, where are you going, sexy, come here!” Yuta exclaimed, already getting out of his seat and ran towards the direction of Winwin, who was ignoring him. “Can’t you take a compliment?”

“You know, the good thing about this bar is that Insung can’t kick us out, we practically own everything here!” Jaehyun shouted, Kun already taking the drinks far away from Jaehyun. Jaehyun shouldn’t have been drunk at this point, but the drinks must have been laced with something again. 

Yuta had already reached up to the dancer and pulled the dancer off the stage, having a strong grip on the dancer’s wrist. “Hey, come back, gorgeous, we miss you!” 

Winwin turned around to face Yuta and tried to push him, but with the death grip from the other, it was useless. “Let me go.”

“Come on, we were just admiring you, what’s wrong with that?” Yuta resisted Winwin’s attempted pushes from his free hand. “You didn’t even answer our question!”

Winwin started letting out noises of frustrations, trying to take of Yuta’s grip off him. “Let go of me!”

“Why are you mad at us?!” Yuta screamed back, already reaching over to grab Winwin’s other arm when he noticed the dancer’s eyes went wide while looking back at something behind Yuta. 

“Yuta, I see you met Winwin!” he heard that familiar voice behind him. Sure enough, he let go of Winwin to turn around and met face to face with Insung.

“Insung, how have you been?!” Yuta shouted over the music, as it kept getting louder as more people entered the place. 10 pm must be a pretty popular time for everyone who comes to the club. 

Yuta hated the Insung guy with a passion, but it wouldn’t be wise to start a fight without his friends behind him and alcohol being present in his bloodstream. He was going to have to wait. 

“It’s been great!” Insung replied. “We’ve been picking up a lot more business thanks to some recent deals we’ve made. I’m already on the process of opening a club in Malaysia.”

“Sounds fantastic!” Yuta screamed. 

Insung gave Winwin a look, a frown now forming on his past-cheerful face, “Is something going on between you two?”

“Oh, this hot guy?” Yuta replied. “Nah, he’s just being stingy. Getting mad easily. Jaehyun must be disappointed, ha ha. By the way, Winwin, tell me next time when you show some skin, I don’t want to miss it!”

Winwin started getting a worried look on his face, but Yuta didn’t notice anything. Insung, however, did, but his only comment was a cheerful one, stating, “don’t worry, Yuta, Winwin will follow your advice, right?”

Winwin’s arms started to tremble, probably because of the cold, Yuta assumed. Why the singer was cold, Yuta didn’t know, his face was already showing signs of sweating. Maybe he had a bad integumentary system, see, Yuta still remembered stuff from high school!

When Yuta finally said goodbye to Insung, leaving him alone with Winwin, he went back to the table to find his Tequila bottle gone. Kun had, instead, scattered some water bottles across the table which he obviously sneaked in, Yuta realized, as he recognized the brand. It was that dumb Chinese brand he liked so much. 

Jaehyun was passed out on the couch, a rare sight. Yuta took out his phone, already thinking of the blackmail he could use this for later. 

“Doyoung is on his way,” Kun said. “Lucas is coming too. I can’t handle you two alone with these spiked drinks, you might die, you know.”

“At least I’ll recognize an angel when I go to heaven,” Yuta said, slumping on his seat from before. “Or hell. Yeah, those dance moves were sinful, yeah.”

***

Around midnight, the effects of whatever drugged Yuta had ingested were finally wearing off as he and Lucas were walking around the stage to go to the back where the dancers prepared and the VIP rooms were held. 

“This place is cool, right?” Yuta said, not having to yell anymore as they were getting away from the noise.

Lucas shrugged, not even bothering to look at Yuta in the eye. “Yeah, whatever.”

Shit, did they interrupt something that Lucas was doing before calling him? Already feeling a bit guilty, Yuta stopped walking and pulled out his phone. “Hey, man, sorry if we ruined your night, I can probably get someone instead-“

“No, I’m not mad about that,” Lucas replied, not stopping with Yuta who he was now leaving behind. “It happened earlier, it’s nothing to do with you guys.”

“Okay then?” Yuta stammered, running up to catch up with Lucas who obviously didn’t care that he was a good five inches or more taller than Yuta. 

Yuta put his arm out to stop Lucas, however, when they entered the backstage area. There were some dancers mingling and walking around, but their sinful beauty wasn’t what made Yuta stopped in his tracks. 

They were a good ten feet away from Winwin from earlier, Yuta realized. And they walked in at the moment Insung was giving him a huge smack on his face. 

So he treats his dancers like shit, Yuta thought, ignoring Lucas’ question as to why they stopped. I’m not surprised. 

Despite the chatter going on around them, Yuta realized that they were talking in hushed voices. He couldn’t hear clearly what the others were saying, but there was no doubt that he picked up every single line of dialogue exchanged between Insung and Winwin. 

Winwin was staring at the ground while Insung talked to him. 

“Winwin, what is your main role as a dancer?”

Winwin stiffened. “Please the client and make them happy.”

‘Winwin was speaking so quietly that Yuta thought he was going deaf. 

“So, tell me, Winwin, why didn’t you that?”

“I……I was just going to the new spot during rotations, and then the guys just suddenly ran up to me and-and”

The second smack was just as loud as the first one. 

Welts were already forming on Winwin’s face, the red marks making a sharp contrast with the rest of his skin. 

“You know how powerful that guy is?” Insung said, he voice quiet but terrifying. “You just screamed and insulted at one of my most powerful partners-“

“I wasn’t doing anything though! I-“

Apparently smacking people was how Insung made them shut up. 

“I need to meet up with Yuta later, and I can only hope that you didn’t disappoint him.” Insung grabbed Winwin’s chin and tilted his head higher, making Winwin’s tears now more visible. “Meet me at my office after you’re done. I think we should talk about other services you should give-“

“I told you I am not becoming a prostitute!”

Yuta was taken aback by that statement for two reasons. One, of course, this was the first time Winwin had yelled at Insung during the whole conversation. Second, he thought that the prostitutes were just whores by choice…

“Well, wouldn’t it be better for you and your brothers if you paid off the debt quicker?” Insung whispered. “You wouldn’t want anything to happen to them, would you?”

Winwin’s eyes widen, and he struggled to speak. “Y-you wouldn’t dare-“

“You don’t know anything, Si Cheng,” Insung said, throwing Winwin to the ground. “Now hurry up, you’re not done for the night. Actually, you might be an hour or two late to your house-“

“Please don’t,” Winwin whispered. Insung ignored him, however, and walked away, already calling after some other dancers to hurry up, whores were supposed to be fast to please. 

Lucas tried to pull him away, saying they needed to follow Insung now and how they needed to talk about, but all Yuta did was watch as Winwin slowly get himself off the ground until another dancer came over and helped him up. It looked like the other was calming him done, saying ‘it’s okay’ and ‘don’t worry’ over and over.

Yuta was still watching them when Lucas finally pulled him away and led them to the secretive office areas, troubled over what mayhem he had just caused. 

***

The keys in Si Cheng’s hand were clinging one another as Si Cheng was shaking, desperately trying to put the right one in the keyhole. To his dismay, however, the door was already unlocked. 

No.

He pushed open the door and threw his bag and keys to the ground, already sprinting towards the bedroom where they all shared. He let out a sigh of relief as soon as he saw Chen Le and Renjun on the bed, staring at Si Cheng for a few seconds before simultaneously bursting into tears. 

Si Cheng walked over to his crying brothers and said nothing but pulled them towards his embrace, the two clutching on his back as their empty sobs filled the room. It wasn’t long until Si Cheng’s face started to fill with tears as well, only being able to say “my babies, I’m sorry” over and over. 

Right around 4 am, he got a distress call from Renjun, saying that some people have broken into the apartment. They were woken up from the pounding and name calling at the door and heard the door entering. They hid under the bed and texted Si Cheng what was happening, but the men stayed in the apartment a good ten minutes, touching stuff and looking around. They didn’t take anything as far as they could tell, but they did hear them mention Winwin a couple of times. 

It wasn’t a coincidence. There were those jerks from earlier, and then that conversation with Insung. That asshole must have done something earlier to have made people come to his address. Or what if they are people who knew his stepdad? But then how did they get his address?

Si Cheng didn’t like the fact that he knew nothing. And he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like how it ends up. There was only one thing he can do now, and that is not let Chen Le and Renjun stay out of his sight. 

***

Doyoung fell out of the chair for the second time in the past ten minutes, with Jungwoo laughing the same way straight afterwards. 

“Why does this chair keep tipping over?” Doyoung shouted, pushing himself off the floor and kicked the chair. “I bet Lucas did something to it.”

“Lucas wouldn’t do that,” Jungwoo said, smile not leaving his face. 

“Lucas wouldn’t let you starve, either, and it’s been fifteen minutes. How long does it take to walk to the pizzeria next door and getting a box or too?”

Jungwoo picked up the curse chair and pushed it to the side, bring one of the spare ones over so that Doyoung could sit on it instead. “Maybe he’s getting breadsticks.”

“Ah, yes, breadsticks take a ton amount of time, why didn’t I think of that.” Doyoung let himself fall onto the chair Jungwoo brought it and closed his eyes. “So how did earlier go? Lucas didn’t tell me anything when he met us at the club.”

Jungwoo turned his focus to the floor as to not want to be seen by Doyoung, despite the fact that Doyoung still had his eyes close. “Well, um, about that…it didn’t get approved.”

Doyoung’s eyes rapidly opened as he jumped out of the chair to face a red Jungwoo. “What do you mean it didn’t get approved?”

“The leaders say now it’s not a good time, but I think they felt bad because tonight they didn’t give me a curfew,” Jungwoo explained. “Lucas will have to go without me.”

This was, of course, one of the many frustrations of Jungwoo being part of a seperate gang. Not that he did anything with them, it’s just that his dad was the ringleader and the stupid mafia overlord, as Lucas liked to call it. It was one of the few gangs in South Korea that were more powerful than Yuta’s, mainly because of its larger size and, of course, them having no hesitance in doing anything illegal. Not that it mattered anyways, since the police force rarely wanted to interact with them. 

The ‘leaders’, as they were referred, didn’t like the idea of Jungwoo leaving the country, even if it was only for a day. They even get on high alert if Jungwoo is twenty miles away from the city, essentially making Jungwoo a prisoner. 

They didn’t like Yuta’s gang, of course, but they did have a soft spot (If you could call it that) for Lucas, since he had saved Jungwoo and two over leaders’ children a few years ago from another gang’s shooting spree. At least Lucas knew that none of them would try to kill him. 

Lucas took another eight minutes, of course, before he finally came back, two pizza boxes and a plastic bag on top in his hands. “They ran out of pepperoni,” he gasped out, setting the stuff down on the table before throwing his keys aside. “There was a long line.”

“I love pepperoni,” Jungwoo commented before pulling out some plastic plates from one of the cupboards towards the corner of the room. “It’s so delicious.”

“Lucas, you’re a dumbass,” Doyoung replied, already flipping the top lid open as the steam hit him in his face. 

Lucas laughed, immune to Doyoung’s comments by now. “It’s not like that’s going to hurt me later in life.”

***

“You remember his name, correct?” The old man in front of him said.

The man in front of him just smirked. “It’s a hard name to forget.”

“And you remember what your job is, correct?”

The young man nodded. 

“Trust me, with a guy like this, I doubt that I will fail.”


	4. Plan B

“Hey, are you sure we need these photos?” Jisung asked Chen Le while they were in the park. “What’s wrong with the ones we got? We already started doing their drawings, anyway.”

“Yeah, but we need a final piece,” Chen Le explained. “The ending. One that would make whoever looks at him question it and rethink their whole perspective in life. Something unforgettable.”

“Pretty hard to forget you in class,” Jisung muttered under his breath.

Chen Le frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re loud and obnoxious, that’s what I meant.” Jisung picks up his bookbag and the stack of polaroids that they had taken earlier. “Why can’t we just use a phone?”

“I don’t have one,” Chen Le said. “I told you. Besides, polaroids take nicer photos.”

“You’re way too into this project,” Jisung stated. “I’m going home, I’m going to be late for dinner.”

“Okay,” Chen Le said, sighing as he stuffed the camera into own backpack. He had borrowed it from one of the photography teachers at the school, so he needed to be extra careful that nothing bad happened to it. “I’m going to get my brothers now.”

Jisung scoffed at him. “You still need a babysitter to follow you everywhere?”

Chen Le, confused, just put on his backpack. “I mean, yeah, Si Cheng doesn’t want any bad things to happy to me and Renjun again.” He looked over to one of the benches nearby, where Renjun was playing on the phone and Si Cheng was just staring straight back. He never loses his guard. “Well, I’m going now, then. See you Monday at school!” With that, he walked over to his brothers, who noticed and got up in order to leave.

Jisung just stared back at Chen Le, who wasn’t paying him any attention anymore. “Again?”

***

Ten pouted the next Friday night as he practically stomped his way to work.

He hated Insung so much, that fucking asshole. Now he was forcing Ten to come to the stupid strip club an hour early. Ten didn’t forget that Insung made Si Cheng leave last week two hours past his shift. Fucking bastard.

He entered and went straight to the room as usual, as he ran spilled some water on his eyes and he was pretty sure it screwed up his mascara. He didn’t spend all his time preparing his sexy lashes all for nothing.

He didn’t like how lonely it was without Si Cheng. Sure, they rarely got to see each other during their “worktime”, and even less during the normal days since Si Cheng tried to spend as much time as he could with his little brothers and helping them out, but knowing Si Cheng was right there whenever Ten finished with another client or whatever was what made him keep going.

Staring at the mirror, like usual, he started his work by using the make-up remover wipes that Si Cheng usually kept around (they agreed to share everything with each other, but it was pretty obvious which items Si Cheng had purchased – which isn’t even a whole lot. Some have even expired, so Ten would secretly replace them with newer versions.)

Of course, Ten wasn’t even one minute into his work when he got a pounding on the door, demanding him to hurry up already. It was that one lackey, Min-whatever. Ten didn’t give a fuck, they all looked the same, anyways.

By the time he was done, he wrote a little note for Winwin to read later, along with a small box – Ten had bought him some of those American chocolates that Si Cheng craved every now and then, some caramel candy called Milk Duds or something. Grabbing the nearby pill bottle on the table top, he didn’t forget to pop in two Advil tablets for later; he just knew today was going to be a rough day.

Ha. Rough. If he were back in college, he would have laugh. Before any of this shit happened, of course. Ah, those were the good days.

***

Si Cheng was holding their hands extremely tight as they walked the streets at night. Chen Le could practically feel his pores leaking sweat, which probably wasn’t an exaggeration, considering the look of fear on Si Cheng’s eyes.

Starting from the other day, the three of them weren’t allowed to separate. At all. The only times Chen Le and Renjun could be alone were during the school day, but other than that? The three had to stick together. Which also meant going to Si Cheng’s work together.

Of course, Si Cheng felt awful. First of all, that wasn’t a good environment for them. Si Cheng went through his whole middle and high school (well…. What he did of high school anyways) dealing with unnecessary looks and comments already, and he had tried his best to make sure that Renjun and Chen Le don’t go down that path. However, the only other alternative was the risk of them getting injured at home with those unwanted visitors passing by every now and then, and the worst part? Si Cheng didn’t even knew what they wanted.

Letting his brothers get hurt wasn’t desirable, but how low has he gotten where he had to bring them to the strip club as a better option? And besides, second of all, what was Si Cheng going to do for school nights? Si Cheng could go home really late, and he didn’t want to wake his brothers at four in the morning to head home. They had been having trouble falling asleep recently, too, and this situation wasn’t going to help.

Si Cheng had no other choice, though. The only thing he could do now was to see how tonight would play out.

The three of them entered through the front doors, thankful that there was some commotion going on and no one noticed them going in.

Chen Le was already intimidated the second he walked through. He didn’t like how the people in the place looked like. There were other people who he assumed looked like dancers, based on their outfits similar to Si Cheng’s, and what were those people in the corner putting up their nose-

“Okay, so,” Si Cheng led them to a small, hidden spot near the front. It didn’t have a good view of the dancers, but from Winwin’s point of view, he would be able to see them just fine. “You guys have the blanket, right?”

Renjun nodded, taking off his small backpack and pulling the blanket from it. “Yep, I got the black one, like you said.”

“Yes, that one, so now,” he asked them to sit and scoot closer, and wrapped the blanket around them. “You guys are to remain in this spot, okay? If you need to go to the bathroom, do not stay there for more than five minutes. If there’s a line, come back and go later. Chen Le, you have the snacks for when you guys get hungry, right?”

Chen Le smiled and nodded. Earlier that day, Si Cheng had bought them some granola bars and fruit snacks. It’s been such a long time since they had any of those.

Si Cheng stayed with them for a few more minutes, but soon their time together ran out as Si Cheng had to go and get ready. He gave them one last hug to each of them and reminded them to take care of the other.

He really hoped nothing bad happened to them.

***

Yuta was sitting at the same spot as last time, nursing a single soju bottle that he brought from home himself. It was just him and Lucas today, the other drinking some daiquiri or something. Johnny had come, too, but he did what he always did, so for now it was just them, sober and miserable as they could.

Well, Yuta didn’t know why Lucas was miserable. Some shit went down earlier or something, so it looks like Yuta will have to grill it out of Kun later. As for Yuta, he just felt guilty as hell.

Last week he had been in awe of the dances, but now he just stared at that Winwin person feeling like he just ruined their life. That was some weird-ass horny drug Insung had given them, and Yuta didn’t like being treated a guinea pig anyways.

He had never been much of a cat-caller or flirtatious person, but of course that was not the vibe that he gave off last week. He decided that he was going have to apologize to the dancer later. Yuta was going to fix this.

***

Renjun needed to go to the bathroom.

Usually he wouldn’t think of this as a problem, but considering how they were in an adult club and he didn’t want to leave Chen Le alone, this, unfortunately, was an issue.

Chen Le must have noticed him acting weird, because he soon asked him if everything was alright.

“I’m fine,” Renjun nodded him off. “Why are you asking that?”

“You keep moving,” Chen Le explained. “It’s creeping me out. What’s wrong?”

Renjun tried, anyways. “I need to pee real bad.”

Chen Le frowned but didn’t say anything against. “Remember you only have five minutes.”

“Okay, okay, okay, actually, wait.” Renjun pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave it to Chen Le. “Here, it case anything happens. Don’t eat all the gummies.” With that, Renjun got out of his seat and ran towards the restrooms.

Well, he sprinted for ten seconds, until he realized the group of people towards the back of the place. Renjun hoped no one would do anything to him.

He tried to play off as a cool and collected person, but as soon as some creepy old dude who didn’t even look Asian told him nice ass, Renjun started to shake. He didn’t like these people. These were the types who had been knocking their door all these nights?

He weaved his way through the assortment of men and found his way to the restroom. Despite the fact that the place was dirty, no way he was going to use the urinal. And what were those two guys making out anyways??

He got in the cleanest stall and quickly did his business, not wanting to spend in extra second in there. When he got out to wash his hands, there was a creepy person just staring at him, but Renjun wasn’t going to pay attention to anyway. All he could think of was counting down the seconds until he could sit next to Chen Le again.

He got out of the restrooms and was going to get ready to weave through the crowd when he felt someone put their hand on his mouth and whispered to him “don’t make a sound.”

Renjun considered himself a dumbass in these situations, though, so he let out a scream and tried to pry the man’s hands off of him. The people around him were noticing, but they were either too drunk to help him or they just didn’t care. In any case, Renjun knew he was screwed.

He felt someone else pull him out of the man’s grip, but before Renjun could attack him, too, the other simply punch the other man’s jaw, causing the man to cripple to the ground.

Renjun had no idea what the heck was going on but the one who pulled him away pulled him closer, shouting “I got you, don’t worry,” causing Renjun to break down into sobs.  
It’s over. His life was completely over, now. He was going to get kidnapped and killed, never to see his brothers again. He was never going graduate high school or college, was never going to get a job to finally buy that one MustB album, was never going to meet someone and get married, was never going to visit China-

“Hello? Are you okay?” The guy holding him had been speaking for quite some time now as Renjun was slowly coming back to reality.

Shoot, now they saw him be pathetic. There really was no justice in this cruel, cruel world-

Wait a second, what was that guy doing?

Before Renjun could understand what the heck was going, some other old dude came over and started shouting some stuff (the music in the place was so loud, Renjun was surprised Si Cheng hadn’t gone deaf before), and other people started coming and it was getting so confusing, Renjun just knew he was going to pass out any minute-

“Sir, I’m Jaemin, I’m not causing anything-“

“Why is there a guy sprawled on the floor with bruises?! And who let this little kid be here??”

A bunch of people started sprouting their own comments, like how they though Renjun was one of the workers, laughs thrown around, all Renjun wanted to do was throw up, he’s feeling sick, Si Cheng, where was his brother, he needed him now-

As if on cue, Renjun saw Si Cheng pushing people out of the way- his brother really was an angel, his life savior, Renjun honestly couldn’t live without him-

Si Cheng managed to get to him, ignoring the stares and comments he was getting from the crowd. He recognized Insung there, but he didn’t know the random male on the floor or the younger guy, probably around his age, hugging Renjun from behind.

He had noticed Renjun left his seat a few minutes prior, and he was starting to get worried when the latter hadn’t come back. It also didn’t help that everyone was talking how there was a fight going around, and when he heard that one looked like a little kid, he sprang into action.

He pulled Renjun away from the young guy and wrapped his arms around him, looking straight at Insung. “What are you guys doing?”

Insung was speechless for a few seconds, but that was time it took for his anger to rise. “Is this one of your younger brothers?”

Renjun could feel Si Cheng stiffen behind him. “What about him?” he responded calmly.

Insung started laughing, and Renjun hoped that it was a good and not a bad thing.

“Which one is it? Is it the loud one, Chen Le, or the tough one, Renjun? What’s the difference?”

“Look,” Si Cheng started. “Can we just leave? I don’t know what happened-“

“Insung!” Si Cheng turned around to thank whoever was distracting him- oh god no it was that guy from last week that caused him to get slapped- “where are you, I need to inform you of something!”

“You-“ Insung pointed to Si Cheng. “You need to go back to work. Your brother here needs to get the fuck out of here. You-“ he pointed to the male who was holding Renjun earlier. “If you aren’t paying, leave. And someone please take that bruised man outside, he’s taking space on the floor-“

“My brothers can’t just go home alone,” Si Cheng was talking back.

“Brothers? Both of them are here?” Insung tried to look for the other in the crowd. “It’s the short dude wrapped with that fucking blanket isn’t it?”

“Don’t talk about them like that-“

“If they can be in this club, they can go home alone, now hurry up, there are people waiting to see you!” With that, Insung pushed Si Cheng’s hand from Renjun and pulled him towards. “Go the fuck to work now!”

“But-“

The young male whispered to Si Cheng “don’t worry, I’ll take care of them,” which didn’t calm Si Cheng’s nerves at all. Who was this guy? Was he a friend of Renjun? What was he doing earlier? Did he-

Renjun, still a bit shaken up, did the heart symbol with his hand. Ah, okay. The three of them had made a list of secret symbols earlier in case there was a situation, and that one meant that Renjun and Chen Le were going to the old market opened 24/7 a few blocks away. Not as close as Si Cheng would have liked it, but with the constant surveillance and the much safer environment, it was probably for the best.

He walked away wondering if it was the right choice.

***

The two of them went outside, ignoring the strange looks of the bouncers. They don’t remember the last time they were outside at night. Probably never.

Despite the fact that they live above the building, the club in on the front side of the building, and Si Cheng doesn’t have access in the club to use the elevator that runs to the other side. So, what he has to do is go outside and walk 2 blocks around the building. Neither of the other workers have access, either, although some of them aren’t even allowed to leave the club anyways.

Thus commencing their walk in the dark. The old market was right next to the main entrance to their apartment/hotel complex, so they would have to walk around. The good thing, however, was that they just had to stay next to the sidewalk and they would be fine.

Renjun couldn’t help but blame himself for this situation. He just knew Si Cheng was going to get in trouble. They had to walk in the dark. What if someone mugged them? Kidnapped him?

He had to stop being so negative.

As they were getting away from the crowd, the two of them suddenly heard someone shouting Renjun.

Chen Le turned to look at said brother. “Renjun? Who’s calling for you.”

Renjun shrugged. “I have no idea.”

They looked behind them, and that’s when Renjun realized that the guy calling him was the one from earlier. No, not the one who tried to touch him, the younger one who pulled him away. What was it, Jae…it started with a J, something like…

Chen Le grabbed onto Renjun’s arm, and Renjun was pretty sure he was cutting off his circulation. “Is that..um…you know, should we run? Renjun, what do we do?”

Renjun, unlike their elder brother who was smart and a good decision-maker, was…..well, he wouldn’t consider himself a crybaby, no, that sounded wrong, he was more on the… emotional side, yeah, that’s it, he considered himself and Chen Le more…

Stupid under pressure. Why sugar coat it.

Whatever they were, however, Si Cheng was still the best older brother, and he had taught them long ago how to defend themselves from others. So, Renjun got himself in front of Chen Le, letting the other wrap his arms around Renjun’s waist and hide, and he took out the pocket knife Si Cheng had given him and pointed it at the direction of whatever this guy was.

The guy was intimidated in the slightest, though. “Hey, Renjun, don’t worry, I’ll take you and your brother home.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“Taking you home. It’s not a problem, don’t worry,” the guy said.

“I’m sorry, do I even know you?” Renjun took a step backwards, pocket knife still in the direction of the guy’s face.

Renjun took a good look at him. The guy was tall, he had to admit (or maybe they were just short…. They obviously didn’t get the same height genes as Si Cheng did.) and did look scary: his brown hair was styled messily, the dark jeans and hoodie that he had on were exactly what a burglar would wear, and his front pocket looked pretty stuffed-

Oh. It was a gun. How did he not notice that?

Well, now Renjun had to follow along with whatever the guy said because he didn’t want him and Chen Le to get shot at.

His arm holding the pocket knife started shaking, and Renjun’s eyesight was starting to get blurry. Was he crying? Yeah, makes sense.

“I’m Jaemin, okay?” the guy…Jaemin….stated. “I’ll take you guys home, no worries.”

“Ho-how do you know us,” Chen Le asked, still holding onto Renjun. “Why should we trust you?”

“You guys with Si Cheng, right?” Jaemin told them.

The two of them nodded, easing a little. No one in the club knew their elder brother’s real name, so this Jaemin person wasn’t just anybody. They were still suspicious, however, and didn’t believe it was adequate to show this mysterious guy where they live.

“We, uh, we’re heading to the mart,” Renjun explained. “We’re not going home yet.”

Jaemin nodded. “I’ll take you guys there then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mustb i want u is really great


	5. The Close Encounter

Si Cheng went to pick them up around five am, the two of them in a deep slumber in front of the ice cream freezer stall. It hurt Si Cheng to wake them up and drag them home, knowing that he had put them there in the first place. 

 

It hurt the brothers to know that Si Cheng had put on a ton of concealer on his face, knowing exactly what he was hiding. 

 

The walk home was silent, the two younger brothers only half-awake, and Si Cheng was alone with his thoughts.

 

He didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t leave them at home; it wasn’t safe to leave them there anymore. People knew his address, and it wasn’t like he was in a position to change it. 

 

It was also stupid of him to think he could bring them to the club either. He knew what type of people hung out there, and those weren’t people he wanted his brothers to associate with. 

 

Si Cheng didn’t have any friends outside of the club that he could trust to take care of them, and no one will be willing to watch after two teenagers during the nighttime, not that he could afford it anyways. 

 

He realized that it was time to show the two of them how to use the gun. Si Cheng kept a small pistol hidden behind the dresser; he had stolen it from his stepfather when the guy was waving it around, drunk, threatening to shoot Renjun if he didn’t clean up the empty bottles. Si Cheng waited until he was knocked out, took it and grabbed all the spare bullets he could find in his stepfather’s room. The beating he took afterwards was  _ not  _ pleasant at all, but the important thing was his brothers would be safer without that bastard having it. 

 

The good thing was that it was the weekend, so when they all crashed on the bed and didn’t wake till 2pm, there was no issue of them missing school. 

 

Chen Le was actually the first one to wake, trying to go back to sleep until he saw the 1:39 pm flashing on the nightstand. He had promised Jisung that they would on the project today. They had less than one week left, and there was a lot of editing that Chen Le still wanted to accomplish.

 

Since it was one of those rare days that he was up before Si Cheng, he decided that he should do breakfast instead. Sure, Si Cheng taught them how to cook and do certain meals, but he always took charge of that. Maybe it’ll be a nice change of pace, for once. 

 

He got out of bed, excited to be the one to cook for once. Maybe he could do pancakes, he thought. Yeah, it’s been a long time since he’s done pancakes, that’ll be fun! He could add fruit, and they could drink the good chocolate milk, and have a ton of random syrups to drown their pancakes in, yeah-

 

Of course, that didn’t turn out to be the case. 

 

The cupboards where practically  _ empty _ . A bag of rice, some old cans of vegetables. He did get a shred of hope when he found strawberry preserves, but there was no pancake batter, heck, there wasn’t even any  _ flour _ . 

 

Dang it. 

 

Maybe…. there were strawberries, so maybe he could do fruit arrangements. Yeah, that’s a good idea! He could make breakfast, he just had to use his resources correctly-

 

And there was nothing in the fridge either. 

 

The freezer didn’t even had anything. The fridge had only a small package of thawing chicken, some lettuce, and two old apples. A half-drunk water bottle was in the side, which could only be Renjun’s since he loved his water ice-cold like a maniac. 

 

He slammed the fridge and stomped back in the room. His plan was ruined now. How was he supposed to make breakfast in these conditions? They couldn’t even eat anything!

 

He opened the door to the room and found Si Cheng sitting up, blinking his eyes a couple of times since the sunlight was filling up the room. Renjun was still passed out, his mouth wide opened as he snored. 

 

“Oh, Chen Le,” Si Cheng mumbled, pushing the blanket off him as he slowly got off the bed. “What are you doing?”   
  


“Jisung said he was coming over at 4, remember?” Chen Le told him.

 

Si Cheng nodded. “I’ll make breakfast-”   
  
“There’s nothing to eat.”   
  
If Si Cheng wasn’t fully awake before, he surely was now. “What?”   
  
Chen Le crossed his arms and pouted. “I wanted to make breakfast but there's nothing, only rice and vegetables-”   
  


Si Cheng looked down and spoke so softly that Chen Le almost didn’t hear him. “I was going to…. well…”. He leaned over the bed and started to shake Renjun. “Renjun, get up, we have to go to the store.”    
  


“The store?” Chen Le asked him, while Si Cheng continued to shake Renjun, who let out a groan.   
  


“Yeah, I should have my money today, we need to buy for the week anyways.” Si Cheng pulled Renjun up when the latter had opened his eyes, squinting as they were readjusting to the light. “Renjun, get ready, we’re going to the store.” 

 

Renjun’s eyes widen. “The store?!?!”   
  
Since Chen Le had slept in the same clothes of yesterday (or, well, today), he rushed to the drawers to get a pair of socks. Renjun had slept in his pajamas, so he was ruffling through the closet to find his hoodie and jeans. 

 

Si Cheng went to the bathroom and washed his face, not looking at the mirror to not see his red eyes. He couldn’t believe that he had slept 9 hours, even with unusual starting and ending times. He usually averaged around 5 hours a night, although it was starting to average around 4 recently. 

 

He had been planning to make them breakfast (not at 2pm but nonetheless) rice and vegetables, but his brothers must have been getting sick and tired of his cooking. Besides, something different for once wouldn’t hurt, right?   
  


***

 

“I don’t want pancakes, I want waffles,” Renjun argued with Chen Le, holding a Eggo Chocolate Chip. “THIS is a much better option.”   
  
“You’ve never even tried that, how would you know?!” Chen Le screamed. He raised his pancake mix and put it in the shopping cart. “At least we know what pancakes are like!”   
  


“You guys need to work this out,” Si Cheng whispered. “There’s people staring.”   
  
“Not until Chen Le admits he’s wrong.” Renjun put his box in the cart and took out the pancake mix, placing it on a random spot on one of the shelves. “Besides, I had them at school once, and they were good!”   
  


“How did you try it at school if we can’t even get breakfast?” Chen Le asked. 

 

“We had a breakfast party once. I also got to eat bacon, it was actually good!” Renjun said. 

 

“Si Cheng, pick one,” Chen Le said. “Tell him mine is better!” 

 

Si Cheng reached out for the waffles and put it on the shelf. “I’m sorry, Renjun, but the pancake mix will last us longer. Besides, the waffles are more expensive for less food.” 

 

Renjun crossed his arms. “That’s not fair, we never get to have anyt-” he started saying before Chen Le nudged him to stop. 

 

The damage was already done, though. But, instead of saying anything, Si Cheng merely signaled them to move forward and pushed the shopping cart out of the breakfast aisle. 

 

Shopping was always Si Cheng’s least favorite thing to do. All the comparisons that have to be made, prices being suddenly raised, always having to calculate how much money you have left to spend. Not to mention that during those rare moments, Chen Le and Renjun would start fighting for no reason. One time Si Cheng told them that they could grab apples, and of course the two started arguing which flavor was better. 

 

He did have a little surprise up his sleeve - he had been cutting costs the past month and he has saved up for them to have 10 dollars each to spend. They never said it to his face, but Chen Le has been talking to Renjun about wanting a sketchbook instead of drawing on scrap paper from school, while Renjun has been complaining about his earbuds that only work from one side. Si Cheng couldn’t remember the last time he had bought them a gift, so this would be a nice change. 

 

He had also been saving up some money for some new clothes, but it would be a while before they could go shopping for that. Si Cheng did need a new jacket, though; the one he had last year didn’t fit him anymore, and it was starting to get chilly at night. It didn’t help that he was always in a tank top. 

 

Other than the pancake mix, he got the usual groceries; bag of rice, some vegetables. He would have gotten them meat but the prices have gone up again. Some tilapia fish was on sale, though, so Si Cheng grabbed some fillets. Maybe they could have them later. 

 

His seasoning cabinet only had like five spices, though, so he was going to have to get creative. 

 

Si Cheng took them to go browse the book display, which was right next to wear the electronics were. While Chen Le flipped through a magazine and started rambling about some group called MYNAME, Renjun looked at the shelves behind them, which contained an assortment of speakers, charger cables, headphones and earbuds. 

 

“Chen Le, look!” Renjun said. He pointed to the locked boxes on the top shelf. “Those are the airpods everyone is talking about.” 

 

“I think Gunwoo would most likely wear airpods,” Chen Le said. “Their Kiseki album was good, but I don’t understand their japanese songs. And forget about their old songs. I couldn’t even find a lyric video for  _ What’s Up _ at school!”   
  


“They’re two hundred dollars, though,” Renjun said, while Chen Le started rambling about members enlisting. “How long would it take to save up that kind of money?” 

 

“Years,” Chen Le said while putting down the magazine and picking up another one. “We can’t even raise 5 dollars. How am I supposed to get the HALO album with Look Here in these conditions?”   
  
That’s when Si Cheng piped up. “Guys, I have a surprise for you.”   
  


The two of them turned to give him a look. When was the last time they had  a surprise?

 

“I know other people won’t find it as much,” Si Cheng explained, “but we have enough for you guys to spend ten dollars each.” 

 

“TEN DOLLARS???” Chen Le screeched. “I’M RICH!”   
  


“Ten  _ dollars?” _ Renjun asked. “Is this a prank? Tell me this is a prank.”   
  


Si Cheng shook his head. “Go ahead and pick something.”   
  
Chen Le slammed the magazine back on the shelf and ran away from. Si Cheng didn’t have to look to know he was going to the craft’s section. “I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!”

 

“I need a MYNAME comeback soon,” Renjun said while looking at the earbuds on display. “Sweet dumplings, finally, I can ENJOY MUSIC AGAIN.”   
  


“Renjun remember not to blast your music at high volumes,” Si Cheng reminded him. “It can really hurt your ears.” 

 

Renjun waved him off. “Yeah, whatever, taking care of myself, hah- oh, look, they have the panasonic earbuds I’ve been wanting-”   
  
Chen Le came back with his arms full. “The sketchbook I wanted was 13 but they had a mini version that was 7 so I also grabbed more colored pencils, sketch pencils are a lot of money but at least-” he put the stuff in the cart, not caring if it was squishing the cheap sliced bread or not. It probably expires in 3 days anyways. “This is  _ so  _ going to help me with my art project with Jisung later.”    
  
“And  _ I  _ have earbuds to ignore you two,” Renjun exclaimed. “I’m going to stream GBOYSWAG all day. He just released a new single last month.” 

 

Chen Le turned to look at his older brother. “Wait, are you getting something, too?”   
  
Si Cheng nodded. “I’m planning on buying  a jacket for later. Hopefully before Christmas we all get to go clothes shopping, I know hand-me downs aren’t going to last.”   
  


“Well, I’m the same height as Renjun already,” Chen Le said. “I can’t wait to be taller than him.”

 

“I hate you,” Renjun said. “You’re supposed to respect all ge ges in the world.”    
  
“OOPS!” Chen Le yelled, laughing when Renjun started punching his arm. “Stop it, Si Cheng, stop him!” 

 

The two continued to bicker the entire time, but their trip was starting to get cut short since Renjun and Chen Le wanted to hurry home to use their new stuff. When they made their way to the front of the store, that’s when they passed the clothes and one caught his eye. 

 

It was in the women’s section, but those things never really bothered Si Cheng. It was a cute zip-up hoodie, a nice cream color with some black English words plastered over it with hearts marking the end of them. 

 

And it was only $8.99. 

 

Si Cheng  _ sprinted  _ towards the aisle and flipped through the racks, trying to find his size. These were mislabeled, he realized, but not that it mattered to him because  _ they were on sale _ . 

 

He found his size and pulled it of the metal rack. They were so soft, better than anything he’s imagined. It’s been a long time since he’s had any cute clothes, and he was glad that he could get this one. 

 

They finally made their way to the cashiers, three of them taking out the stuff one by one and placing it on the conveyor belt. Si Cheng had calculated that the total must be around 110 with tax, and he was going to be deposited 150, the rest going to the phone bills and gas later. Everything was all going to plan. 

 

As expected, the total came out to be $112.98. He swiped his card and put the pin number, but then there was a red message on screen. 

 

“Your card was declined,” the cashier explained. “You’ll need to swipe it again.” 

 

Si Cheng frowned.  _ Declined?  _ This has never happened before. 

 

He swiped his card again and repeated the same process, but the screen turned red again. 

 

“Is it a credit card and your entering it as debit?” The cashier said. “In that case, you just need to-”    
  


“It’s not a credit card,” Si Cheng said. “Why isn’t it working?”   
  
“You must not have enough funds, then,” the cashier said. 

 

Not enough  _ funds?  _ No, that couldn’t be it, Si Cheng was getting paid today and he had some money saved up and, and-

 

“Can you give me one second?” Si Cheng asked her. By then, his brothers were also getting worried. They had never encountered this while going to the store. 

 

Si Cheng logged into his bank account, and there in big black numbers showed his bank account balance to be $106.78

 

“ _ What?!”  _ Si Cheng screamed. “He didn’t give me the full amount!”    
  
“Sir, if you’re not going to pay for your items, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” the cashier said. 

 

Renjun was getting scared. What would get his brother so worked up? Why wasn’t the card working? Were they really going to get kicked out of the store? But before he could say anything, Si Cheng spoke to the cashier instead. 

 

“Can you take out the hoodie?” he asked. “I think the card should work after that.” 

 

The cashier gave him a dirty look but did what was asked. Si Cheng swiped the card, and the screen turned green as usual.    
  


“Thank you for shopping with us,” the bored cashier said while handing him his receipt. “Have a nice day-”   
  
“Weren’t you going to take the sweater?!” Chen Le said. “Why did you take it out? It was mad cheap, too!”   
  


“There wasn’t enough money for it, Chen Le,” Si Cheng explained. He pulled off the plastic bags to put them in the cart. How was he going to pay for the other stuff? Was he going to have to walk them to school again? “Come on, guys, let’s go home and make breakfast, okay?”   
  
Renjun turned to look at his younger brother, who only gave him a confused look. Something had been going on with their brother, and they didn’t like it. 

 

***   
  


“Your Western Union transaction has been completed,” the attendant told him. “Is there anyone else who you would like to send money to?”   
  
Yuta shook his head. “No, just to her. Thank you,” he said, walking out of the line. 

 

He was at the store doing his usual routine every week, sending money to his sister Jitsuko. He started making his way to the front entrance when he saw someone familiar. 

 

It was that guy from the club with two younger guys. Something must have been going on since Winwin’s face was red and appeared to be shaking really bad. He said some words to the cashier, who proceeded to pull out some hoodie with the words “I love you” all over it from the bags. 

 

As the younger boys were putting the bags in the cart with him, that’s when Yuta recognized one of them. It was the one who was getting yelled at last time, his brother or something. Winwin had two younger brothers? That was news to him. Not that Yuta knew anything else. 

 

Yuta waited until he left in order to go up the cashier. “What happened to that guy earlier?” 

 

Cashier shrugged. “Hell should I know, probably broke or something, had to take out this hoodie,” cashier explained. “God, I hate Chinese so much.”    
  


_ Chinese?  _ “Wait, how do you know he’s Chinese?” Yuta asked. 

 

“His accent. Plus, those boys of his started rambling it to each other. Probably talking trash, I wouldn’t know. They should go back to their country.” 

 

Yuta was getting annoyed but had an idea. The cashier’s name was Minha, he’ll have to remember that. “How much is the hoodie?”   
  
“8.99. Why, you buying it?” she asked, taking it out to scan it. 

 

Yuta paid for it and was handed the hoodie and the receipt. “Have a nice-”   
  


“I’m Japanese, I doubt you’ll want me to have a good day.” Yuta said, ignoring her eyes widening as he marched out of the store. He had a plan for next weekend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgive me, but i'm back on track
> 
> *also* AM I DREAMING ABOUT SUPERM


	6. Two Types of Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mention of assault/attempted assault FYI, if you want a summary of what happens in this chapter just comment or send me a private message

“Ayo, Winwin,” Ten shouted at him. “Come here!! There’s presents for you!"

 

It was a week after the incident of bringing his brothers to the club. Si Cheng had advised them to barricade the bedroom door whenever they were asleep and Si Cheng would just sleep on the couch. He was, thankfully, able to take them to the woods the other day and can now use the pistol, and they also left the kitchen knives in the room after dinner just in case. 

 

Si Cheng was starting to get tired, but the night hadn’t even started yet. Plus, his cream to prevent chafing had ran out, and now he was suffering from rashes thanks to his tight clothing. He developed a blister the other day, and now it hurt to just walk. 

 

But walking was what he did as he went over to the vanity where Ten was applying his eyeliner again. “What do you mean presents?” 

 

“Well, look!” Ten pulled out a small, wrapped box and a gift-wrapped parcel. “One’s from me, one’s from a stranger, but open mine first!”

 

“Ten, there’s nothing special going on,” Si Cheng said. “And don’t argue that it’s an early birthday present.” 

 

Ten crossed his arms. “I can’t give you a present because I want to? Besides, I’ll give your birthday present on your actual birthday, genius.”

 

Si Cheng picked up the box first, which had Ten’s messy handwriting all over it. “You don’t have to get me gifts you know,” he whispered. 

 

“Course I do, I’m your friend who has no expenses,” Ten stated. “And don’t worry about not being able to give me anything, I understand, I just thought you would like this.”

 

Si Cheng opened the square box. There was an album with plastic wrapped on the front, and when he took it out, there was a box depicting a CD player on the front behind.

 

“You said that you and your brothers love to dance to EXO-M, so I got your their Mandarin XOXO album, the one with those Wolf and 3.6.5 songs,” Ten explained. “Although you have to promise me a performance. As for the CD player, so that you guys can actually hear it from there, I know it's tiring from hearing it on youtube with those 2 ads all the time. Oh, and I know Renjun has yet to play your mother’s HIT-5 album, his item from her, so he’ll be able to hear it, too. It has a built-in speaker, too, your don’t have to wor-hey, are you crying?”

 

Si Cheng was, indeed, crying, his tears streaming down his face as he clutched the two items closer to his chest. “Ten, I-”

 

“Don’t say anything, I can’t understand you anyways since your voice is gargling.” Ten reached over and handed them to Si Cheng, who set down the items on the table before wiping his face and softly crying. “You guys are the biggest EXO-L’s, anyways, you deserve an item of theirs.”

 

Si Cheng still wouldn’t stop crying. “I don’t deserve anything.”

 

“Hey, look.” Ten pulled Si Cheng in a hug, his cries getting muffled. “If you’re not going to accept it for yourself, at least accept it for your brothers. You’re always complaining about not being able to get them anything, anyways.”

 

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, which was a weird position for Ten since Si Cheng was way taller than him. Nonetheless, when they pulled apart from each other, Si Cheng’s face red and puffy, that’s when Ten handed him the other gift. 

 

“As for this gift, some random guy was ranting about wanting to apologize to you or some shit, I don’t know, he was rambling, but he said to give this to Winwin. I don’t know what’s in it, to be honest.”

 

Si Cheng took the parcel from Ten and unwrapped it slowly. It felt like a piece of clothing, and Si Cheng was half-expecting some lingerie to come out (sadly, wouldn’t be the first time) but then-

 

“Oh, that’s a cute hoodie!” Ten exclaimed. “And it says ‘I love you’ all over it! Hey, isn’t that the one you were trying to get, anyways?”

 

Si Cheng lifted it up higher to see it better, which didn’t matter because tears were pooling in his eyes again. “It’s-it’s-”

 

“Winwin, wait, a piece of paper came-two pieces of paper.” Ten bent down to the floor and picked them up. “Oh, this is a letter, messy Korean, must be a foreigner- oh my gosh, is this a check of $500!! Si Cheng, it’s a check of $500 dollars from some Nakamoto guy, told you it was a forei-oh, honey, don’t cry, it’s all right.”

***

 

_ Dear Winwin,  _

 

_ I guess we don’t really talk to each other, but I really wanted to apologize you for that other night. I really didn’t mean to say those things to you or get you in trouble with you boss. I know it’s no excuse but I really don’t tolerate that behavior and I was straight-up drugged and I was so shitty, you probably don’t even know who I am, but just know that it wasn’t intentional.  _

 

_ P.S - I know what’s it’s like for siblings and not being able to provide for them, don’t take this as a bribe. Like I said, we probably won’t see each other _

 

_ -N.Y _

 

***

 

He was going to escape that night. 

 

He programmed the cameras to malfunction for an hour and to delete the past hours videos in order to hid the fact that Taeyong had something to do with it. 

 

He wasn’t really escaping, though; he’ll only escape one day when he has hidden resources, and of course he’ll take his daughter with him, he won’t leave her with him. For now, though, he had to test sneaking out without getting her involved. 

 

He dressed up in dark clothing, putting on a dark hoodie that he rarely wore to conceal his identity. No doubt his husband had people who worked for him all over the city, and if anyone found out his was out, he was dead. Or, would rather be dead. 

 

His arms were shaking the closer he got to the foyer. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He was actually doing this. Last time he saw the outside world was years ago. His last day was a rainy day, oh, how he missed running out in the rain, running across the sand, running his hand through leaves and the trees, tracing over the bumpy wood and the surface of a pond or the petals of a tulip. 

 

How he missed those moments. Moments that he thought he would get to experience with his loved one while married. But his husband stopped being his loved one a long time ago. 

 

Taeyong half-expected something to happen when he opened the front door. An alarm to go off. A swarm of people to enter. A blinding light. A striking hand or a flying kick. But-

 

Nothing.

 

It was a clear night. There were some birds chirping. Some insects buzzing. A plane was flying, bringing some unexpected noise for a few seconds. 

 

It was one of the most precious things in his life. 

 

He stood there for a minute, enjoying the moon’s light basking over his skin. He had been pale for years never getting any light, and the moon’s light made him look really white, but it was natural light, not one coming from an open window or the sunroof. 

 

But back to the present. He had only a few things that he wanted to accomplish, and the cameras would only be down for a couple of hours, so he had to be quick.

 

He knew the way around downtown, from the few times he walked around before being locked up forever. He had been mentally drawing the way for years, from when he yearned to go back deep into the city.

 

They lived in a penthouse, towards the middle of the city. That’s when Taeyong knew something was, when his husband who knew he was afraid of heights and elevators took them to live in the twentieth floor when they just got married. 

 

He tried to remember where he could go. He had no money. Maybe he could go to the park. He couldn’t go the libraries, they were closed, and some shops would be closed-

 

The book store. There was a 24/7 bookstore, near one of the chill bars that his husband had soon prohibited him when they came to live in the city. Taeyong had taken an extreme liking to their lemonade-

 

Oh, yeah. No money. 

 

Well, he could go to the bookstore. Look at some magazines, stay up with some current events. Look at what was currently trending in books. Oh, how Taeyong miss buying books, staying up all night pouring over each page, imagining himself in the character’s shoes, oh, what a fool he was that he was experiencing a love like them. 

 

The bookstore, thankfully, was still an open business, but now it had an hours, and it obviously wasn’t going to be open at midnight. Even though he couldn’t go in, it calmed him to know it was still a business. 

 

He peered inside through the tinted windows. The place looked different, more shiny. Instead of wood, it was a different type of material. There were more shelves but organized differently. It looked like it was progressing. 

 

His night wasn’t over, yet. The club next door was open. 

 

He walked in, head staring the tiles as to not draw attention to his face. He sat at the bar and looked at the television on the overhead. 

 

Some news about a scandal. Wait- FTISLAND? Big Bang? Taeyong  _ loved  _ those groups, those were his college years! What was going on with them-Highlight as Beast-wait, Beast changed their name?

 

Taeyong was focus intently on the screen, trying to soak up as much news as he could when the bartender asked him what he wanted. 

 

“Um….water is still free for the public, right?” Taeyong said. 

 

The bartender made a face. “You don’t have money?”

 

Quick, think of a lie. “I don’t want to drink on an empty stomach.” 

 

The bartender poured him a glass of water. Taeyong took a small sip, more intent on what was going on at the screen. 

 

It was celebrity news. Something about a BTS group. EXO had just became a thing last time he heard about them, but the media referred to them as nine-members, one on hiatus. Taeyong prayed that Zitao was still in the group, most likely. He was a nice person and had a nice voice, just like Luhan. Or Kris was a cool guy. He hoped one of those guys was still in the group. 

 

As he nursed his drink, a guy came to sit next to him and ordered a shot of vodka. Taeyong kept his eyes on the screen, trying to not get the guy’s attention. Which was useless, anyways, since the guy introduced himself. 

 

“Hey.” He pushed the empty shot glass towards the bartender, who immediately poured him another one. “What’s with the outfit?”

 

Taeyong kept his eyes on the screen, now with something dealing from Mnet. “No one must know who I am."

 

“Well,” the guy grabbed the shot glass and traced the rim with his finger. “I’m Jaehyun, and what should I call you?”

 

Taeyong paused. Was there any harm giving this guy his name? He already knew how he looked like, anyways. “You can call me TY.”

 

“Nice, an acronym.” Jaehyun drank his second shot of vodka. “Do you want something to drink, it’s on me.”

 

Taeyong didn’t like guys who pay for other’s drinks while flirting but he really wanted to reminiscence the taste of that lemonade again. “A tall glass of lemonade.”

 

“Oh, no alcohol, okay. Ayo, give me some lemonade too,” Jaehyun said. “I haven’t had that in ages.”

 

“It’s the best drink in existence,” Taeyong explained. “Nothing can beat it.”

 

“Well, I’m a pepsi fan, so…” Jaehyun took the tall glass from the bartender who handed them each their lemonade. “But lemonade’s okay.”

 

Taeyong wrinkled his nose. “ _ Pepsi? _ I can’t associate with your anymore.”

 

“Wow, Coca-Cola fan over here,” Jaehyun said. “Guess we’re mortal enemies now. But we all know the true question that matters is Marvel or DC? 

 

“Marvel for sure,” Taeyong said. “DC is too stiff. Marvel is real life people who are dealing it with the best they can.”

 

“Thank you, someone who shares my reasoning.” Jaehyun took a sip from his lemonade. “Yo, this is pretty rad. Hey, what was your opinion on Infinity War?”

 

Taeyong frowned. “What’s that?”

 

Jaehyun choked on his lemonade. “What do you mean, what’s that? It’s the most ambitious crossover of all century! I thought you were a Marvel fan.”

 

He must have missed so many good movies, Taeyong realized. “I don’t have access to TV.”

 

“Well, you need to come to my house to watch it,” Jaehyun said. When he saw Taeyong’s frown, he quickly added, “not like that, like, my friends also do showings too. Although last time Lucas knocked down the whole TV set but I’m not surprised.”   
  


Taeyong laughed. That sounded like something he would have done back in college. Although his friend Ten was the one who knocked over the bookcase once. 

 

He missed Ten a lot. They were best friends in college, which was no doubt the best time of their life. Last time Taeyong saw him was when they were saying goodbye at his wedding. He had promised to talk to him after the honeymoon, but that’s when his husband forced him to lose contact with everyone, claiming it was only for ‘a little bit’ while they got settled. Which was years ago. 

 

Taeyong looked down on his lemonade. What type of life has he been having these past years? He didn’t even get to see his daughter much; she was either at school or his husband would take her out for places. Those moments always scared Taeyong the most; he never knew what he was going to do to her. 

 

Ayaka. 

 

He had to go back home. He had to go back home. He had to go back home. 

 

He pushed the half-full glass of lemonade towards the bartender and hopped off the stool. “I have to go,” he said. 

 

Jaehyun looked confused. “Wait, you’re not going to drink it? At least give me your number.”

 

Taeyong looked over at him and said “I don’t have a phone” before walking out. 

 

***

 

It was around midnight when Insung called him to his office. 

 

Si Cheng was in the backroom, putting on some vaseline that had graciously lent to him. (He actually told him to keep it, but Si Cheng just left it there for the two of them use.) One of the assistants told him that Insung wanted to see him as soon as possible, so Si Cheng put his shoes back on and went towards the restrictive area. There the later was, sitting on his desk while counting a big wad of cash, his bodyguards in the back looking as rigid as ever. 

 

Si Cheng stayed at the back, not wanting to make eye contact. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

 

“Oh, yeah, you’re free to go,” Insung said. “See you tomorrow at the same time."

 

“Yeah sir- wait, what?” 

 

He lifted his head up and saw Insung staring back. “I said you’re free to go, Si Cheng, go straight home. You don’t need me to repeat twice, do you?”

 

“No, sir.”

 

“So tell me, what are you going to do?”

 

………… “Go home sir."

 

“Then off you go.” Insung went back to counting the hundreds in his hands. It was American currency, Si Cheng realized. “Go before people start asking for Winwin. Oh, and here,” he said, handing Si Cheng one of the bills. 

 

Si Cheng came forward and took it slowly, not knowing if it was a prank or not. Insung was giving him $100? Where was this coming from? 

 

“Those are for the service,” Insung said, starting to count again. “Now leave.”

 

Si Cheng had no idea what that meant, but all he did was nodded and left, sprinting to the backroom to get his stuff. He was going home early! His shift was cut early! He had more money for his brothers!

 

While putting on the new hoodie and putting the gifts back in the box, Si Cheng couldn’t help but think about the mass amount that he had been given today. Si Cheng never liked getting gifts, claiming that he didn't seem selfish, but he would do anything for his brothers, even if it cost him his dignity. 

 

He wrote a note for Ten who was busy and left it on the mirror for the latter to see before heading out the door. Maybe his brothers weren’t asleep yet, staying up late like they usually did. He sent a text to Renjun saying that he was going to come home early and to wait for him, stating he had a surprise. 

 

And, just like that, he left. 

 

***

 

Something wasn’t right. 

 

Winwin was leaving early, and Yuta was a bit glad to see him sporting the hoodie, clearly not rejecting it. However, as far as he has been told by Kun, the dancers usually didn’t leave early, especially  _ this  _ early, unless it was for other stuff. But that didn’t seem the case for Winwin, who had box in his hand and looked like he was heading home. 

 

Yuta doubted that Insung actually had feelings, and when he saw some guy follow Winwin when he left, that’s when it all came together. 

 

He had just seen him half an hour ago, talking to Insung and handing him a big wad of cash, and now he was following Winwin home. Winwin probably didn’t even have a clue of what was going on. 

 

Oh, the American was sporting a gun in his holster, too, this wasn’t going to end well. 

 

Okay, he was accidentally going to stalk Winwin home, but if nothing bad happened, Yuta promised he would go back to his place. But if there was chance that assault was going to happen, he was not fucking having it. 

 

Yuta  _ hated  _ assault of all kinds. It was stupid, it was inhumane, and it tore his family apart. Any fucker who thinks it’s okay to do it will get a blow in his head. It’s what led Yuta to his first kill and he didn’t regret it. It won't be his last. 

 

***

 

Si Cheng was glad to see Renjun and Chen Le on the kitchen table when he came home, even though he usually didn’t like to see them stay up so late. This was a special occasion, though, so Si Cheng didn’t mind. 

 

He already knew how he was going to split the money. 200 would be put outside for necessities if the need arises. His two brothers would each get 100 for some new clothes, and the other 200 would be saved for later occasions, like if they had a field trip or needed school supplies. Chen Le’s birthday was coming up soon, a month after his, and Si Cheng already knew what present he could finally buy him. 

 

One thing was for sure, though: Insung couldn’t find out. No, Si Cheng was  _ not  _ going to deposit it in his bank account, Insung had access to that. No, he was going straight to the bank tomorrow and was going to exchange it for cash. Maybe Si Cheng could deposit the one hundred, but no way was he going to add the $500. 

 

Renjun had been watching a video on the phone while Chen Le was drawing something in his new sketchbook, to which Si Cheng had recognized was them. Chen Le was a really good drawer, something he clearly inherited from their mother. When they say Si Cheng enter, though, they ran up to the doorway and embraced Si Cheng in a hug, who hugged them back. 

 

“Si Cheng, we thought you were kidding!” Renjun said. “I didn’t think you meant it!"

 

“Yay, you’re home early!” Chen Le said. “And-oh is that the hoodie?! How did you get that? And what’s in that box?”

 

Si Cheng closed the door, locked it and went to the table, where he put the stuff down. “I’ve had some stuff given to me, but this is what Ten gave me. You guys can open it.”

 

Chen Le was the one who opened it while Renjun took it out. “It says X- IS THIS THE EXO ALBUM?!”

 

“IT’S THE EXO ALBUM?!” Chen Le screeched. “DON’T TELL ME, IT LOOKS LIKE THE XOXO ONE-”

 

“It’s the Mandarin version,” Si Cheng explained. “Now we can hear it all the time.”

 

“But we don’t have a CD player,” Chen Le said. 

 

Si Cheng smiled “The box still has something in it."

 

Chen Le looked in the box and took out the smaller box with the CD players. “Is this what I think it is?!”

 

Renjun’s eyes widen. “Yes, I can play my HIT-5 album now!”

 

“This is the best day of my life!” Chen Le screamed. 

 

His two brothers started jumping all over the living room now, Chen Le with the CD player and Renjun with the album, screaming how this was the best thing. Si Cheng started to laugh and record them with his phone, not used to seeing his brothers this happy. It was a nice sighting. 

 

“Si Cheng, we have to play this album now!” Renjun started to scream. 

 

“Yeah, we can’t go to sleep yet, we have to-”

 

A gunshot made them froze. Si Cheng had heard those plenty of times before, but it has never been here. No, these apartments, no…

 

His first thought was to barricade the door but that’s when he saw the doorknob blown off. 

 

The door was opened by a white guy, an American, Si Cheng realized, who had a handgun in his hand. Si Cheng’s pistol was back in the room, he didn’t have time to get it-

 

“Wow, look what I got here,” the guy said in Korean, his accent being noticeable. “I paid for one but I’m getting three instead!"

 

Si Cheng took a step back and place himself in front of Renjun, Chen Le clinging behind him as well. “Who are you?” he asked.

 

The american laughed. “I’m about to make you feel  _ real  _ good.”

 

His brothers were starting to whimper behind them, their shaking increasing by the seconds, the longest Si Cheng had ever experienced in his life. 

 

“Don’t touch them,” Si Cheng said. “They don’t deserve this.”

 

“Well, I paid your boss for  _ someone _ , so who is it gonna be, Winwin.” He laughed again. “Oh this night is a win for sure.

 

Si Cheng tried to lead his brothers toward the countertop when the guy raised his handgun up. “No, they’re not going anyway. If they’re not gonna join,” he pointed towards the backside of the couch with his gun,  “they’re gonna watch.”

 

His brothers were full-on crying now, shouting no to Si Cheng, but he had no choice. The guy couldn’t hurt them, Si Cheng wouldn’t allow it. 

 

He led his brothers to the couch where there continued to bawl. Si Cheng could feel his own hot tears streaming down his cheeks, but he had to stay strong for them. Even if he couldn’t be strong for himself. 

 

He bent down and whisper to Chen Le, who was crying into his hands. “Chen Le, Chen Le listen to me.”

 

“Si-Si-no, please don’t,” he cried out. “No, don’t,  _ please- _ ”

 

“Chen Le, Renjun,” he grabbed Renjun’s hand and linked it together with Chen Le. That’s when Si Cheng’s voice started to break. “It’ll be over soon-”

 

“Hey, pretty, are you going to give me want I came here for or not?” The american pointed his gun at Si Cheng’s head. “Hurry up.”

 

Si Cheng stood up slowly and walked to the center, not wanting to look at the guy in the eye. 

 

“Now, take off your clothes, I want you to do a strip tease for me."

 

Si Cheng  _ really  _ didn’t want his brothers to hear this kind of language, but he could only hope that they would run to the room as soon as they were out of the guy’s sight. 

 

He grabbed the hems of his hoodie and tank top, trying to stall as long as he could. He had never had any friends, much less a romantic partner. He questioned whether he would ever have sex one day with someone that he cared about, but his first wasn’t supposed to be end up like this. Not like this. 

 

He slowly lifted up the clothes up and got his head out, yet he didn’t take his arms out of the sleeves, yet, not wanting to bare his chest. He  _ hated  _ showing his skin, never liked it when people tried to touch him, when the creepy men stared at him, when all those years ago his stepfather brought his awful friends home and they would watch Si Cheng up to down while Si Cheng went to the kitchen to get some fucking water because he would  _ never  _ let his siblings be in the presence of those men. 

 

Si Cheng still remembered when he came home one day from school, age 15, when he found all his jeans and sweaters thrown out. His stepmother said it was “impractical” to wear that type of clothing indoors, but Si Cheng knew it was because the last time his friends were there, they had complained that his oldest “son” barely showed anything. Even more so to stay in his room. 

 

He stayed there standing, trying to not hear the American guy screaming at him to keep going, when they heard more gunshots. 

 

4 shots in a row. Si Cheng closed his eyes, expecting himself to be shot dead, but he didn’t feel any pain. He felt a liquid bash on him, though, which was confusing. They didn’t shoot him? There was only him, his brothers-

 

His eyes shot right up and looked at brothers. They looked to be in shock, too, and didn’t look like they were injured, even though they had some splotches of blood on them. No gunshot wounds, though. That was the only thing that mattered. 

 

He heard a thud, and that’s when he saw the American guy on the ground, a hole on his head and three more on his chest. Blood was splattered all over him, staining his clothes and the floor and the walls. 

 

Looking up, he saw that guy from all those weeks before standing in the doorway, his gun pointed to the American. Two more guys came up from behind him and went to grab the now-corpse. 

 

The guy looked at Si Cheng and asked him “are you okay? Did he do anything to you?”

 

That’s when Si Cheng finally let himself to cry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so y'all were just going to let me figure out by myself that there was a Thai version of baby dont stop, didn't yall


	7. A Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANYWAYS The new seventeen album is bop. Mingyu I want you to know that you are loved. You too Jeonghan. And you Hoshi. And you Seokmin-(*names all the members and samuel*)

Chen Le couldn’t sleep. 

 

The clock showed that it was four am, but it was just forever ago that it said 3:58. It’s been like this all night. 

 

He doesn’t even remember when they went to bed. An hour ago? Those men stayed for a while. Wait, one didn’t even leave, didn’t he?

 

It all happened too fast. Some guy was threatening him, and then he was killed in front of Chen Le’s own eyes. The guy who had killed him went immediately to their older brother while he fell to the ground and started bawling. 

 

Getting Si Cheng to calm down from his meltdown was chaotic. He didn’t want anyone near him, but yet when one of the guys tried to go to Chen Le or Renjun, he started screaming at them to get the fuck away in Mandarin. Surprisingly, the guy  _ was  _ Chinese, and had spent a good amount of time trying to console him and his brothers in their native language. 

 

They couldn’t stay there that night. The door was broken, and it wasn’t known if someone else had been following them. Si Cheng wouldn’t normally trust three random strangers who had barged in their place and killed someone, but at this point he probably didn’t care. 

 

So that’s how they ended up at a hotel. It was a simple, single room, the three of them sprawled on the bed while one of the guys was outside the door, and even though the thought of having more protection should have calmed Chen Le down, it kept him awake. 

 

Chen Le got up from the bed and grabbed his backpack off the floor, unzipping it to pull out his sketchbook. They were told to pack things for the night, but Chen Le had snuck it in last minute. 

 

They didn’t even get the chance to play the album. One of the last things Chen Le saw before leaving it was the album on the floor from when Renjun dropped it when they heard the first gunshot. It was wrapped, but the blood spatters on the plastic made Chen Le questioned whether he would ever play that album without having that imagine in his head.

 

He flipped to a new page on his sketchbook and took out his prized, worn charcoal pencil and started to sketch. He sketched the album from memory, the black binding keeping it together, the logo on the front, the drawing of the girl, the blood spots all over it. 

 

He was shading it when he heard Renjun get up. Chen Le was using a flashlight to draw in the dark, and Renjun always complains that any light would prohibit him from sleepy, and Chen Le had always questioned it whether it was true or not. 

 

Renjun got up from the bed and sat next to Chen Le in the floor, squinting as if to get used to the light. “What are you doing?”

 

Chen Le continued shading. “I couldn’t sleep.”

 

Renjun scoffed at him. “Geez, I wonder why.”

 

Chen Le put his pencil down. “Was… Si Cheng really going to do that?”

 

Renjun grabbed one of the spare blankets from the chair behind it and wrapped himself with it. “Do what?”

 

“You know… with the American.”

 

“Oh.” Renjun looked away. “He really would do anything for us, wouldn’t he?” he whispered. 

 

Chen Le flipped his sketchbook to a new page. “You know, you two are the virgins in our family, it would be awful if you lost it that way.”

 

Renjun frowned. “What are you talking about? You’re also a virgin.”

 

Chen Le rolled his eyes. “You know that technically I’m not.”

 

“Yeah, but ...you weren’t even conscious.” Renjun took the blanket and wrapped it around the two of them. “That doesn’t count.”

 

Chen Le scoot closer to Renjun but didn’t dare look at him. “You know, watching that guy earlier made me realize that what was going to happen to Si Cheng would always be worse than me. I technically only experience the aftermath-”

 

“Chen Le.” Renjun took the sketchbook from Chen Le as soon as he saw what he was drawing. “Chen Le. What happened to you was bad, okay?” He took Chen Le’s hands and linked it with his, just like what Si Cheng had made them do earlier. It has always been their universal symbol for the younger brothers. “Even if you weren’t awake during the whole thing. He knocked you out. He hurt you. And you were 9, Chen Le, of course you weren’t going to know.”

 

Chen Le’s eyes started filling with tears. “I know that. And I don’t want Si Cheng experiencing that for me.”

 

Renjun pulled Chen Le close to him. “And he won’t, okay? Si Cheng has dealt with enough shit in his life.”

 

Chen Le let out a little laugh. “You know he won’t like it if he heard you cuss.”

 

“Si Cheng says fuck when he thinks we can’t hear him, so I don’t even care.” Renjun took the flashlight from Chen Le and pointed it at the ceiling. “Aliens exist, we have to call out to them.”

 

“Renjun, we’re in Korea, we  _ are  _ aliens.” Chen Le pointed out. 

 

Renjun crossed his arms. “You know that’s not what I mean. Man, if only we could have a youtube channel.”

 

Chen Le took the flashlight back. “Have you seen the bathroom here? It has candles, let’s just summon a demon.”

 

“Good idea.” Renjun took the blanket off them and got up. “But what chant should we use?”

 

“I don’t know, when I summon demons, I just say ‘hey Renjun’,” Chen Le said, laughing as Renjun tried to smack him with a pillow. “It usually works!”

 

***   
  


That Monday, Si Cheng was surprised he got a knock at the door. 

 

It was noon. His brothers were in school and wouldn’t get out until a couple more hours. Si Cheng was worried if it was one of those people that always knocked during the night, but their knocks were usually more harsher than this. 

 

They were back at their apartment. One of Yuta’s gang members had replaced the door and added a few more deadbolts to it. Their night in the hotel was an uncomfortable experience for Si Cheng, especially when he woke up Sunday morning to find Renjun and Chen Le asleep on the floor. They must of had trouble falling asleep again. 

 

Si Cheng was watching a drama on the small TV on Youtube, a cute Chinese drama called I Cannot Hug You. He was about to end the first season soon. His brothers had already finished it and were waiting for him to finish to start the second season together. The next drama in line was My Amazing Boyfriend, if he could recall correct. Had your romance and mystery solving. And ancient immortal beings. Something like that. 

 

He paused the episode and went to the door, hoping it wasn’t anyone out to get him. Since his brothers were at school he didn’t have to worry about them, so he looked through the peephole to see who it was. 

 

It was Yuta. He had been the one who catcalled Si Cheng that one day and who got him the hoodie. Oh, and the guy who shot the person’s brains out. He had saved his life, Si Cheng realized, and his brothers’ as well, which automatically earned him some respect in Si Cheng’s heart. 

 

Yuta was outside the door, wearing the same leather jacket that Si Cheng had seen him wear the past two times. He had a box in his hand and wouldn’t stop moving. Was he nervous?”

 

He unlocked the deadbolts and opened the door, startling Yuta.

 

“Oh, hey Winwin!” he said, handing the box over to Si Cheng. “I brought you some sushi.”

 

_ Sushi _ ? That was expensive. Si Cheng looked down on the box and noticed the small Japanese characters on the side. “Why?”

 

“Well,” Yuta explained, “I usually eat it when I’m depressed.”

 

Si Cheng raised an eye. “So you think I’m depressed.”

 

“No, I mean, how do I explain it,” Yuta said. “In my family, we always gave each other sushi when we were down. It’s just what we did.”

 

Si Cheng was still eyeing the box before looking at Yuta. “I’ve never had sushi.”

 

“Well, you’ll love it. Here, take it.” Yuta raised it higher for Si Cheng to grab it. 

 

Si Cheng hesitated. Who would just shoot a guy to protect someone and then give them sushi two days later? No one that Si Cheng knew, that’s for sure. “Um, thanks?"

 

“No worries, I hope your brothers like it,” Yuta said. He waved at Si Cheng and turned around. “Bye! Have a nice day-”

 

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Si Cheng asked. 

 

Yuta turned around to look at Si Cheng again. “Yeah, why? I came to give you sushi.”

 

Now Si Cheng was the nervous. How do you react when someone gives you sushi? He stepped to the side and waved towards him. “Do you want to come in?

 

Yuta looked surprised but made no word of it. “Uh… sure…” he said, stepping into the foyer. 

 

Si Cheng walked over to the kitchen and set the box of sushi on the counter. It was a bit heavier than he expected, and sushi was mainly rice, as far as he was concerned. Why did it weigh more? How much sushi did the Japanese bring anyways?

 

He grabbed two plates from the cupboard and two pairs of chopsticks for them to use. “Do you want a drink?” he asked, already taking out two plastic cups as well. 

 

“Yeah, sure, thanks,” Yuta said. He was glancing around the living room and the kitchen. He had already been here last time, technically, but those have been under emergency circumstances. It’s easier to look around when there aren’t three traumatized people in the room and a corpse. 

 

That body had been easy to get rid of. Cremate it, bury the ashes right under concrete. Yuta rarely does it but he knew the process. Yuta didn’t even know the bastard’s name; if he had any identification, it had been burned with the rest of him. 

 

He sat down on one of the stools next to the countertop, where Si Cheng had placed one of the plates. Oh yeah, Si Cheng was his real name, he had figured out. It made sense not to use his real name in the club, but Yuta had never imagined a name like Si Cheng. It was a cute name, though. It somehow fit. 

 

A Chinese, living in Korea with only his two younger brothers. Yuta had no idea what type of situation would have caused them to come over, but it was none of his brother. Still, it made him wonder what the other had gone through. 

 

Si Cheng set down the rest of the silverware and handed Yuta his glass of water. “Sorry, we don’t have soda or juice or anything.”

 

“Nah, water’s fine,” Yuta said. “Although let me tell, when I saw my friend Johnny drink orange juice while eating sushi, it disgusted me in a way that I’ve never felt before.”

 

Si Cheng smiled. “That does sound kind of weird.”

 

“I do need to drink more water, though,” Yuta commented. “I do make sure to take water breaks between alcohol, it helps.”

 

“Alcohol?”

 

“...Yeah, it helps,” Yuta explained. “They say that for each alcoholic drink, you should have water. Also, drink slower. That way you don’t get drunk quickly.”

 

Si Cheng nodded his head. It kind of made sense, since alcohol went to your bloodstream but water helps to filter the toxins in your blood. He had never tried alcohol, would most likely never will, but he remembers how his stepfather would drink glass after glass, and always got drunk in a matter of minutes. Si Cheng didn’t know if that would classify him as a lightweight, since he lost track of how many drinks his stepfather would have, but a heavy drinker? Sure as hell was. 

 

“Did I offend you?” Yuta said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said something, especially since-

 

“I-I wasn’t thinking about the club,” Si Cheng answered truthfully. “I just don’t know how alcohol works, except the science behind it.”

 

“Science guy, huh?” Yuta asked. “Not gonna lie, I was one of the annoying P.E kids who ran extra laps.” 

 

“The one who did one hundred pushups?” Si Cheng said. “They always took up most of gym class.”

 

“ _ Yeah,  _ that was like 7 years ago,” Yuta said. “I’m glad I’m not in school anymore. Get that diploma and head out, you know?”

 

“It would have been nice to finish high school,” Si Cheng said. “Wait, 7 years ago?”

 

Yuta realized that he really needed to shut his mouth, he realized, when the other mentioned the high school comment. It was pretty obvious why the other didn’t finish schooling. However, he decided not to press any further. “Yeah I’m 25.” 

 

“Oh. I’m...22.” 

 

“Cool, we could have been classmates,” Yuta exclaimed. “Although I was still in Japan, probably not. But hey, I went to China for a soccer tournament, I could have seen you. China is big, though.”

 

“I went to school here in Korea,” Si Cheng corrected him. 

 

Okay, now Yuta  _ really  _ needed to shut up. He didn’t say anything as Si Cheng opened the box, staring at it for a good few seconds. 

 

“ _ Wow. _ ” Si Cheng marveled at all the different types. He knew sushi had a broad range, but he didn’t know any of the options. “They’re so…”

 

“They’re pretty, right?” Yuta said. He got up from his seat and leaned over in order to see the inside of the box better. “Look, this one is called nigiri, the one with the fish over it. These with the red ball-like stuff on top are Gunkan Maki. These with the different fillings is my favorite, Makizushi. Really good, highly recommend it.”

 

Si Cheng used his chopsticks to grab a piece and slowly put it in his mouth. It was ...actually, it was really good. Like,  _ really  _ good. No wonder people always bought sushi. 

 

“It’s really distinct,” Si Cheng said after chewing, reaching for another piece. 

 

“I’m going to take that as a compliment since your grabbing another one-hey, you’re going to eat all of them? I should have never said they were my favorite.”

 

Si Cheng had to laugh at that comment. He did feel kind of bad, but Yuta had used his chopsticks to grab one that was fried, so he must have a ton of favorites. 

 

And they stayed there for a while, eating sushi and drinking tap water. It was mostly Si Cheng commenting on which ones were good, but everyone once in a while Yuta would say something funny, like the same Johnny friend once put chocolate syrup on a tempura roll and ate it. Fish and chocolate did sound really nasty in Si Cheng’s opinion, but Yuta said that chocolate baked potato was a KitKat flavor and that it tasted really good, and that’s when Si Cheng said he couldn’t trust him. 

 

They ate a huge chunk of the sushi, but Si Cheng made sure to leave half for his brothers to eat after school. They’ve never had sushi before, and it would be nice for them to have something different for a change. 

 

Si Cheng went to wash the plates. Yuta had offered to do the dishes, but Si Cheng had refused his other, so he went to roam around the living room. 

 

The TV had been paused to a screencap of some girl screaming. “What are you watching?” Yuta asked. 

 

“Oh, a Chinese drama,” Si Cheng yelled from the kitchen. He put the plates on the drying rack and was now washing the glasses. “I Cannot Hug You. It’s based off a webcomic, I think.”

 

Yuta nodded. “I’ve never seen a Chinese drama, but I know that you need to watch Japanese ones.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“I don’t know, Hana Yori Dango,” Yuta said. “Well, each adaptation is a classic in their language. Hey, what don’t you watch Mischievous Kiss?”

 

Si Cheng came from the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. “That’s the Japanese version of It Started With A Kiss, right?”

 

“The-the what?” Yuta said. “Okay, it comes from a manga so no matter what adaptation came first, Japanese came first.”

 

“But there’s three Japanese versions,” Si Cheng explained. “There’s the one that came out when the author was still alive, 9 episodes long.”

 

Yuta slowly sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. “My whole life has been a lie.”

 

“I didn’t know you even watched dramas.” Si Cheng sat on the other side and grabbed the remote. “But I’ve only seen Chinese and the occasional one in Korean.”

 

“Let’s make a deal,” Yuta suggested. “You recommend a Chinese drama for me, and I do the same with Japan.”

 

“Can I do a Taiwanese one?” Si Cheng asked.

 

“Sure, I don’t care.”

 

“Zhanshen Mars.”

 

“No idea what that means, so okay,” Yuta said. “As for Japanese……… hold on let me think.”

 

Si Cheng laughed. “Go ahead.”

 

“........ Good Morning Call, yeah, that one! Watch it, it has two seasons on Netflix!”

 

Si Cheng looked down at the remote in his hand. “Um, I don’t  _ have  _ Netflix…"

 

“Here, I’ll just give you my account.” Si Cheng handed the remote to Yuta, who went on the Netflix app on the TV and started to punch in his username. Si Cheng would have laughed if Yuta weren’t given him his account; his username was imgodihavetheanime. 

 

“There, now if you search up Good… Morning…” Yuta said as he searched up the drama on the search bar. It soon narrowed to a show that did indeed say Good Morning Call in red letters. “It’s really good, highly recommend it.”

 

“You can put an episode on,” Si Cheng said. “Do they have subtitles?”

 

“Should have it in Mandarin or Korean,” Yuta said, clicking on the first episode. Si Cheng caught a glance at the summary, which said something about moving in together. “Yep, Mandarin subtitles. Here.” 

 

And there they stayed, for 2 episodes if Si Cheng could recall correctly. He almost lost track of time of picking up his brothers for school. But there he stayed with Yuta, watching his first Japanese drama, no bad thoughts in his head, only thinking of dramas, sushi and Netflix, and Yuta. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do recommened Zhanshen Mars, the same actors were in the old Meteor Garden (which I haven't seen yet don't rush me I'm in college. I'm trying to finish EXO Showtime anyways.) As for why every single NCT author including myself makes Yuta so obsessed with anime....HE LITERALLY MAKES WINWIN SAY ALL THE FEMALE LINES HE IS A BIG DWEEb and I love him so much boi that new hairsyle? Wack.


	8. A Plum, A Date...

“Ten, you have a client at room twelve!”

 

Ten had just gotten out of a room with someone else. Damn it, he really wanted to say hi to Si Cheng. Something had happened over the weekend that Si Cheng wanted to talk about it in person, but that was a week ago and they still haven’t had a chance to meet up.

 

“Fuck my life,” Ten said and walked back to the hallway until he opened the door to dreaded door twelve. He didn’t even get to take his back pain medicine that he always had to buy.

 

He opened the door and slowly walked in, trying to control his face. He knew that if he got a bad review that his boss would not treat him so kindly. Ten tried to avoid this man at all cost. So fucking annoying too.

 

But when he saw who the client was, he relaxed a little. It was one of the partners of Insung, but not in a good way. From the gossip he has heard, his partners concerning the club’s ownership didn’t like him at all. And this guy was one of him.

 

Yeah, his name was Johnny Seo last time he remembered. Ten has dealt with him like three times, and he was nicer than most. He actually didn’t force Ten to do all the work, which was nice for a change.

 

“Hey,” Johnny said when Ten entered the room.

 

“Hey!” Ten closed the door behind and walked up to where Johnny was sitting. “How are you?”

 

“Could be better, I could admit,” Johnny admitted. “But, hey, I had a question to ask you.”

 

Ten shrugged. He’s been asked all sorts of stuff, he’s not surprised by now.

 

“Are you free this Saturday?”

 

Ten frowned. Now he was surprised. Well, he’s been asked more vulgar questions before, but….

  
“I mean, depending on the hour,” Ten said. “What for?”

 

Johnny started wringing his hands together. “Well, I was thinking of maybe… attending the festival at night? You know, the lantern one? It starts at seven, so…”

 

“I mean, sure I guess,” Ten said. “I don’t remember the last time I went to one of those. It’s been a while.”

 

“I like festivals,” Johnny said. “Especially using the sparklers. They’re really nice. Have you ever used them?”

 

“Hmm, probably back in Thailand,” Ten said. “I mean, maybe here when I was in university? That was more when hanging out with friends.”

 

“Back in Chicago, we always used them for Fourth of July,” Johnny. “Fireworks are so cool. I like them a lot.”

 

Ten nodded and was about to say something else when he noticed the clock on the wall. “Johnny, you’re time is going!”

  
“Oh, it’s fine,” Johnny said. “I don’t mind.”

  
Johnny was odd indeed.

***

“I can’t believe we’re at the store again!” Renjun shouted, yelping when Chen Le kicked his feet.

 

“Don’t say something, Si Cheng might think we hate it!” Chen whisper-shouted to his brother. “You don’t want us to get in trouble like when we threw plums at each other.

 

It was Saturday again so Si Cheng had taken them to the store again to buy them some clothes. All Renjun had in the cart was two pair of jeans since they were 2 for 10 (probably a cheap brand for all he knew. Not like he cared about brands.) He never understood why some kids hate clothes shopping, it’s cool to see new stuff you’re getting.

 

They walked past the books again, leaving Chen Le going straight to the magazine section. He picked up one of them and started flipping through it, his usual method.

 

“Man, I can’t wait until we get a job and earn and get rich so that I can buy all these magazines,” Chen Le said while Renjun flipped through a Quizfest magazine. “Look at this! Which GOT7 member is most likely to kill his own member?”

 

“Jackson, he’s stupid,” Renjun said. HIs magazine was all in English, of course, but recently they’ve been adding KPOP into it, so he was trying to see which ones he could find. “That’s why he’s my favorite.”

 

“Yeah, you right,” Chen Le said while flipping to a new page. “Shit, EXO is having a comeback?”

 

“COMEBACK?” Si Cheng, who had been nearby watching the tvs since they were displaying the news, suddenly spoke up. EXO was one of the only thing that could make him scream. “Like, comeback comeback or Bird-comeback?”

 

“I don’t know why that had no MV,” Renjun said.

 

“COMEBACK COMEBACK!” Chen Le shouted.

 

“Five dollars they don’t make a chinese version of this one, too,” Renjun said.

 

“Chen Le, if you want to get that magazine, then you can bring it,” Si Cheng said. “Damage in Chinese would have been a good song.”

 

“YAS! I LOVE IT!” Chen Le screeched before setting it on his pairs of jeans. “If any of you guys damage it in any way, YOU WILL DIE.”

 

“Chen Le you’re threats won’t work on me,” Renjun said.

 

Si Cheng pushed the shopping cart forward and led them away from the entertainment area. “Nice pun, Chen Le.”   
They continued their shopping, with Si Cheng making them a couple of new shirts as well. He wanted them to get new shoes as well, but from what he can recall, they always have a promotion in a couple of weeks so they could wait until then.

  
Si Cheng took them to the aisle with rice and started comparing with basmati rice would be a better deal. While Chen Le slapped on the bags for fun, Renjun went towards the end of the aisle to look at the spices. He was going to take two and shake them like maracas to have fun with Chen Le with Si Cheng probably getting embarrassed like always, but right when he reached the end of the aisle, that’s when someone entered the aisle as well.

 

It was…

 

“Oh, hey! Renjun right?” Jaemin said.

 

Renjun froze, not knowing quite what to do. No doubt Si Cheng was already getting into fight mode behind him.

 

Oh, the last thing he needed was for Si Cheng to worried. So, he forced himself to give Jaemin a little wave. “H-hey.”

 

“Nice to see you here, it’s been a while since the last time,” Jaemin continued. “Came here for rice?”

 

“Yeah, well,” Renjun pointed to behind him, to where indeed Si Cheng and Chen Le were in a seemingly shocked state. “I’m here with my brothers.”

 

“Oh, okay, it’s fine, I guess inviting you would be rude, but there’s always a next time, right?” Jaemin said.

 

“Wait, wait, what?” Renjun was confused. “.....inviting?”

 

“Yeah, well I wanted to talk to you at the club that one time, but then there was the whole incident,” Jaemin started to ramble. “Like I was trying to get the courage to ask you, but anyways-”

 

“Wait, what do you mean?” Renjun interrupted him. “No one could have seen me and Chen Le from where we were. At least, I don’t think so…”

 

“I could see you guys,” Jaemin said. “Your brother was on a sketchbook, right? And you were with him as well, the two of you talking.”

 

That was odd. Si Cheng took some extreme lengths to make sure nothing could go wrong that night. Of course, there was that incidence, but he did plan their spot carefully. How could Jaemin see them that easily?

 

This was getting awkward. Renjun didn’t really talked to people at school, except those rare moments where he got to talk to Chen Le.

 

“Well, what exactly were you thinking about?” Renjun slowly said.

 

“I don’t know, coffee maybe? Do you like frappucinos?” Jaemin took out his phone and started scrolling through it. “I hate them, I prefer dark coffee but apparently there’s some new drinks because of the fall season coming up. Of course, depends on the cafe you gone. Do you prefer Starbucks or Panera Bread?”

 

Renjun had seen the kids in his school with the white and green cups but has never tried coffee. “I’ve never been to either.”

 

“Well, I guess we can go to starbucks, it’s like a five minute walk from here,” Jaemin said. “Is that fine? Would your brothers mind?”

 

Renjun had never asked Si Cheng if he would let him go somewhere alone, but… should he risk it? Renjun didn’t want to ask and get told know in front of this Jaemin guy, that would be embarrassing. But yet, what did he know about this guy anyways? And it’s not like he had the money anyways.

 

Well, he could always say he wasn’t hungry. But it was weird though...is this someone asking you out? Already? Wait, it wasn’t romantic, Jaemin never specified that…

 

He took a big intake of breath and told Jaemin to give him a second, walking slowly down the aisle to where Si Cheng and Chen Le had been standing.

 

The two were staring at the rice bags, but it was obvious that they were thinking about what the hell Renjun was doing with a stranger. Renjun didn’t know if Si Cheng could recognize Jaemin, but Chen Le certainly could. Did he tell his older brother?

 

“He-hey, Si Cheng?” Renjun asked. “A… friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go get some...coffee, is that okay?”

Si Cheng didn’t respond for a few seconds, probably thinking about, which only stressed out Renjun even more. Was this even worth it? Why did everyone have to creep him out today?

 

“....Your friend?” Si Cheng finally answered. “From school?”

 

“I…..” could he lie? “well, no, but I’ve seen him afterwards.”

 

Si Cheng softly nodded, which was just terrorizing Renjun to no end. “How are you getting there? Do you want me to drive you or-”

 

“We can walk,” Renjun interrupted. “It’s a five minute walk from here. It’s just a cafe, one of those franchise ones.”

 

Si Cheng nodded again. “Here, I’ll give you ten dollars okay? I don’t know if that’s enough. Keep your phone on okay? Don’t go anywhere else.”

 

And just like that, Renjun got permission.

***

His older brother was not okay.

 

When Chen Le was helping his brother put the stuff in the car, he could see Si Cheng’s hands shaking, no doubt because Renjun was with that guy he (well...they) met at the club last time. Granted, under bad circumstances, but why did Renjun lie and say it was his friend? And coffee? Renjun has had coffee before?

 

Chen Le hoped that whatever Renjun had planned didn’t involved him getting hurt. Maybe Chen Le should just ask him later. Of course, for now he had to focus on calming down Si Cheng.

 

Huh. Calming him down. That’s something Chen Le never would have thought of saying at all. Well, thinking mainly. Actually doing it is another thing.

 

Chen Le got into the backseat but quickly got out when he realized he was going to be alone back there. Sitting in the passenger next to Si Cheng, it felt so... foreign.

 

He buckled up his seat and waited, waited for Si Cheng to start the car. His brother was taking his time for so long, at this rate they were never going to get home.

 

When Si Cheng finally shifted gears, Chen Le asked, “Si Cheng is something wrong?”

 

Si Cheng just clutched the steering wheel tighter. “Do you think I made the right decision?”

 

“The what now?”

 

“It’s just…” Si Cheng still didn’t move the car. “I know that I can’t protect you guys forever, but I still need to do my part, you know? Like, if I know if I could have prevented something, I’ll never forgive myself, but-”

 

“You don’t want to us to think your the overprotective parent who won’t let us have a life,” Chen Le finished for him.

 

Si Cheng nodded. “Exactly. Like… I don’t know, I don’t want him to be missing out on hanging out with his friends, but I just have to make sure he’s safe, I just don’t, I don’t know, I don’t know.”

 

His brother had always had too much on his plate, but he had been playing practically four roles at once. He’s been their sibling, their parent, their bodyguard, their caregiver…

 

What has Chen Le been?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I FOUND A PETITION FOR WOOJIN IT"S ABOUT HOW IF HE WAS FORCED WE NEED TO FIGHT FOR HIM BUT IF IT WAS HIS DECISION WE NEED TO SUPPORT HIM!!!
> 
> http://chng.it/fJntMRgcPR


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